'Several minutes later four silent, hooded figures watched the corpse. Divested of its now redundant bonds and gag, it hung from the balustrade, the body twitching and swinging in its death throes.'

A spate of seemingly unrelated murders shatters the peace and tranquility of Wisstingham as the baffled, newly-appointed Chief Inspector Stone and his team struggle to discover motives and murderers.

Meanwhile, at Wisstingham Hall, Commander Selwyn Fitzgerald's ever-thwarted search for the family treasure barely gains momentum before his beloved fiancé, ex-mayor Miriam, suffers a spate of attempts on her life.

This leaves the formidable librarian Amanda to strive alone in trying to organise Wisstingham's first arts and crafts festival, to coincide with the opening of the Hall to the public. To add to her woes, the arrival of a vengeful Frenchman sparks off even more chaos and death.

Life for Amanda would be so much less stressful if fiancé Sebastian would recover from his depressive episode and the various festival committee members didn't stop disappearing or dying horribly.

As a tangled web of deceit, intrigue and revenge threatens to engulf the Hall's residents, how can Amanda and Sebastian possibly survive the deadly peril it will bring?