In a country manor house currently owned by a New Age cult of mystics, the mysterious death of member William Carter stirs all the local gossips into a frenzy of speculation.

Meanwhile, untrustworthy financier Guy Gamelin tries reconciling with his estranged, cultist daughter Sylvia, now called Suhami, as does her alcoholic mother.

Publishers Weekly stated in its review of the novel: "Graham's competent procedural works most effectively as a wickedly acid yet sympathetic portrayal of a group of society's misfits seeking comfort and a place in the world.

"[1] Kirkus Reviews noted: "Wonderfully funny, with such solid, traditional underpinnings as good plotting, judiciously dropped clues, and a luminescent turn of phrase: a likely-to-be New Age classic.

"[2] The novel was adapted by Douglas Watkinson into the fifth episode of Midsomer Murders starring (alongside regulars John Nettles and Daniel Casey) Judy Cornwell, Miles Anderson, Charles Kay, Stephen Moyer and Geoffrey Beevers.