The body of amateur flautist Tony Mills was found on Lord Bottrel's secluded estate, an apparent suicide but, when sinister inconsistencies emerged, Chief Superintendent Wycliffe was called in As he checked Mill's last days, another mystery was revealed, the disappearance of Lizzie Biddick, pretty young maid at the Bottrel ancestral home As bitter family feuds and secret illicit relationships were uncovered another body was found, shattering for ever the pastoral peace of the Cornish estate