In a remote valley, surrounded by mighty mountains, lives a close-knit village community. One day, a stranger named Greider arrives in the plain. He poses as a painter and asks for accommodation for the winter. After much hesitation, the villagers assign him a place to stay in the house of the widow Gader. Soon after Greider's explorations through the valley, the first heavy snow falls, cutting off his way back. Life in the village gradually settles down until a mysterious series of deaths startle the residents. First, the youngest son of the Brenner farmer, the secret ruler of the valley, has an accident while chopping wood. Then, one of his brothers is found dead in the mill stream. In "The Dark Valley," Thomas Willmann draws on the narrative patterns of classic regional literature and dresses them in an artful, vivid language. This results in an atmospherically rich and thrilling novel.