Mrs Maxie had to cope almost single-handed with a large house and an invalid husband; but when she took Sally Jupp from the village home for unmarried mothers to help at Martingale there was much head-shaking in the village. It was bound, people said, to lead to trouble; but not even the most pessimistic of the local Cassandras ever guessed how disastrous for the Maxies that trouble was going to be. The real Sally Jupp, pretty, ambitious and clever was a very different person from the meekly grateful repentant sinner that she seemed to be—and her stay at Martingale ended in violence and death. Throughout the summer tension in the house rose; and it reached its shattering climax on the night of the annual fete. By morning Sally was dead and Chief Detective Inspector Adam Dalgliesh and his Sergeant arrived in the of a country Sunday to investigate a killing as puzzling and mysterious as the character of Sally herself.

P. D. James's first novel is a gripping and thoroughly entertaining detective story.