The predictable daily lives of the residents of Meadowbank, a bustling market town in the south of England, were shockingly disrupted by the brutal murder of Major Reginald Tilsly. Murder was virtually unheard of in Meadowbank. "Meadowbank will never be the same again" was the consensus of opinion; much discussed and speculated upon for hours on end in the 'Market Inn' over pints of their local best bitter.

Chief Inspector Brenda Masters had, in the beginning, believed it would be a straightforward case, but she had not taken into account a number of seemingly un-related events occurring outside and well beyond Meadowbank; all of which were to contribute in making her work more difficult than she had envisaged.

Eliza Brent, newly arrived from London, found herself almost from the first moment of moving into the Lodge on the Tilsly estate, caught up in, not only in the aftermath of the death of her landlord, but with everything else which was to follow; her own personal predicament placing her right at the top of the chief inspector's list of suspects.

Members of the Tilsly family were not exempt and it soon became clear as Brenda Masters sifted through the evidence, there were more. Each of them had a valid reason for the demise of the major and, even when the murders continued, there were links to where any of them could be guilty. At one stage, she came to the conclusion there were far too many suspects; she was wrong, as events were to prove, but not before a nail-biting conclusion.