The central detective is Inspector Blampignon of the Sûreté who had previously appeared in Death on the Riviera. It is divided into two distinct parts with the first section narrated in first person by Nigel Derry, one of the suspects, and the second part follows the investigations of the French police.
Gwen Marrable, at fourty-something, is rich, attractive and independent. She is also imperious and man-mad. Her house party fizzles out after two guests assault each other and her adopted daughter learns that she will be disinherited if she marries a man Gwen doesn't approve of. Gwen goes off to her house in the South of France, but arrives there, dead and bundled into her own trunk. As her various relatives and hangers-on converge on Villa Paradou, the local detective tries to find out exactly what happened after Gwen left England.
The formidable French detective embarks on a thrilling race to discover the truth in this rare and spirited mystery novel.
