Sara Causseley could not be more delighted by her new job as governess
to the aristocratic Hallam clan. The children are adorable, the gardens
are a dream, and the conversation stimulating. But ominous political
clouds are gathering over Europe, and as England slips inexorably toward
World War II, the Hallams' political views make the family increasingly
unpopular. No one, though, suspects the extent of the malice that is
percolating in the surrounding countryside until a human skeleton'and
then a human corpse'are found on the Hallam grounds, sending some kind
of ugly message.