In July of 1923, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple travels to
Henley-on-Thames to visit her aunt and uncle as well as to
work on her latest writing assignment - to cover the
Henley Royal Regatta for an American magazine. Daisy plans
a simple trip researching her article, enjoying the races,
and, come the weekend, having a pleasant time with her
fiance, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of
Scotland Yard. But the tensions between the Ambrose team's
coxswain, Horace Bott - a shopkeeper's son and scholarship
student at Oxford - and rower, Basil DeLancey - the
younger son of an Earl and all-around bounder - are
constantly threatening to erupt into violence. The team
then proceeds to lose their next heat in the eight because
Bott is ill from the previous night's overindulgence, an
action he was goaded into by DeLancey. DeLancey publicly
humiliates Bott. Bott, in turn, publicly swears revenge.
The following day, in the coxless four, DeLancey himself
keels over and dies mid-race. Foul play is immediately
suspected, with Bott the logical suspect. But nothing is
obvious in this tangled web of jealousies and secrets, and
while Inspector Fletcher investigates the murder, Daisy
once again must ferret out the truth.
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