Martin Brand's relatives are furious that he's left his large estate to his niece, Marion, whom he had only met once. And Marion is upset that she has to share her new home with Martin's family. Then a body is found on the beach wearing her coat....
A young woman falls asleep on a deserted beach and wakes to discover the body of a man whose throat has been slashed from ear to ear…The young woman is the celebrated detective novelist Harriet Vane, once again drawn against her will into a murder...