Troy Alleyn wasn't sure why she accepted the commission to paint the portrait of the well-known actor Sir Henry Ancred. She arrived at Ancreton Manor to find Sir Henry in poor health and suffering a series of merciless practical jokes from his grandchildren. Then death visits the manor, and the family in mourning constitutes a formidable assembly: the self-important Pauline, the egregious Cedric, acquisitive Sonia, and Milly who laughs perpetually at nothing. Troy is overwhelmingly relieved by the arrival of her husband, the redoubtable Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard...