England, toward the close of the Second World War. Six cousins, descendants of the wealthy Victorian merchant Rutland Shearsby, are all healthy and in their prime, survivors of the worst war in history. Then one of them, an army captain in London, abruptly steps into the path of a speeding van and meets instant death. A few months later, his cousin, a writer, is found in a remote country lane, his head smashed against a stone wall. And a few days afterward, another cousin, a rural schoolteacher, is discovered in her cottage, poisoned to death. Of the six, now only three remain.

A bizarre confluence of accidents? Or has there been foul play? Parmiter, an eccentric obituarist in possession of some disturbing facts about the deaths, attempts to persuade Harvey Tuke, the most venerated man in the public prosecutor's office, to look into this abrupt rise in one family's mortality rate. Tuke remains skeptical until he runs into a fourth Shearsby cousin, panic-stricken and convinced that someone has been trying to kill her.

Thus begins one of the most extraordinary cases in modern British detective fiction. Caught in a mind-boggling maze, Tuke - a Mephistopheles look-alike on the side of the law - unearths some curious facts about a very strange family; a bitter conflict over an unconventional legacy: a Victorian skeleton in the family closet; a short story entitled "Too Many Cousins" - inexplicably withdrawn from publication that reportedly predicted the precipitous decline in the family population; and Uncle Martin, a black sheep who refuses to remain dead.

Along a trail laid with suspense and more surprises than a conjurer's act, the author, a noted historian of his day and master of a captivatingly witty style, provides us with a fascinating picture of bomb-shattered London and the effects of war and profound social change on an England in transition. With something for everyone, this devilish tale, one of the most charming and challenging detective stories of postwar England - or any time - will keep you guessing until the last page.