Nothing could be more restful than summer in the small Irish town of Cahirmor—its most exciting diversion a Shakespearean summer production by a traveling repertoire company. That is, usually. But suddenly unexpected violence shattered the calm, giving Cahirmore a summer it would never forget.

An English baronet's young daughter was found strangled in the woods, apparently the victim of a paranoid killer. Superintendent Duffy had definite suspicions, which were grimly confirmed when a lovely young actress became the murderer's second victim. The inhabitants of Cahirmore jump at the chance to be amateur detectives—and Duffy found himself both helped and hindered by such engaging characters as Lady Ballybrogh, a party-loving eccentric; the temperamental troupe of actors who were visiting Cahirmore; and an internationally famous Irish painter.