The garden of Dorelia Jones flourishes with strange poisonous plants - but her mind is as full of poison as her garden. This venom permeates everything she does. About to be made homeless, and disinherited by her mother, Dorelia plots and schemes to ensure her own survival and comfort. A marriage of convenience turns out to be anything but for her unfortunate husband, who has to suffer being ostracised by his family and then haunted by Dorelia's murdered mother. Even an exorcism fails to rid the house of the wickedness Dorelia has unleashed. A Gothic fantasy, craftily plotted about parasitic relationships, mushrooms and the power of suggestion.