In England, 1923, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple has made
a decision that, while shocking to her class, is in
perfect keeping with the spirit of the times. Rather than
live with relatives until she marries, she has undertaken
to earn her own living with her writing. Her series of
articles on country manor houses has proven popular with
the readers of Town and Country and in February she
travels to Occles Hall to research her latest piece. What
she finds there is a household under the thumb of the ill-
tempered and demanding Lady Valeria. The discovery of the
body of a pregnant maid buried in the winter garden does
nothing to improve Lady Valeria's mood. When the local
constabulary arrests the Welsh under-gardener who had been
involved with the maid for the murder, Daisy is sure of
his innocence and suspects that the whole affair is
consciously being swept under the carpet. Wary of the air
of secrecy that permeates Occles Hall and determined to
prove the innocence of the young Welshman, Daisy convinces
Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard to investigate the murder -
a murder that is more complex and horrifying than either
could have imagined.