Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett.

[1][2] It is the fortieth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the more orthodox detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

[3] Two young couples, tired of life in their drab London lodgings, are overjoyed when they hear that a property in isolated, rural Devon is available at a very cheap rent.

However, not long after moving into the Old Court House, a body is discovered in one of the outbuildings and their new home instantly seems less idyllic.

MacDonald, recently promoted to Superintendent, heads west to lead the investigation.