In the English countryside, one of the well-mannered guests at
Pigeonsford Estate may be a murderer in this series debut by an Edgar
Award-nominated author.
As war rages in Europe, the citizens of London flee to the country. At
Pigeonsford, a group of guests plays cards, drinks tea, and acts
polite--but Grace Morland knows the strong emotions that lurk beneath
the placid social surface. She's painfully in love with Stephen Pendock,
the squire of Pigeonsford, but Pendock's smitten with young beauty
Francesca Hart. One afternoon, Fran debuts a new hat, and Grace's
jealousy gets the better of her. She exclaims, "I wouldn't be seen dead
in a ditch in a thing like that!" She will soon be proven wrong. Grace
is found dead with the hat on her head--and her head removed from her
neck. To the scene comes the incomparable Inspector Cockrill, who finds
that far more than petty jealousy lies beneath this hideous murder.