During the Second World War, Philip Tolefree swapped his job as a private sleuth for government espionage – and spent some time building up the alter ego of Jean Scouarnec, lynchpin of the Breton resistance movement. In this guise, he aided in the escape of several British airmen. It is because of Tolefree’s intervention that Rousdon, now a prosperous solicitor, was able to escape the clutches of the Nazis and return safely to England. Firm friends ever since, Tolefree is now Rousdon’s guest at Avallon – the country house of Abingdon, a successful publisher and Rousdon’s future father-in-law. But Tolefree’s Devonshire holiday is thrown into turmoil when Abingdon’s body is found floating in the estuary.

Who killed Abingdon and why? And what is the significance of the missing watch?

Originally published in 1949, this is a vintage British murder mystery from the golden age of crime fiction.