As if organising St Cedd's church fete were not enough for Mrs Maxie, later that mellow July afternoon her son Stephen sprang the news of his engagement. By morning, Sally Julep, her new parlour-maid - unmarried mother and minor village scandal - was dead.
Investigating the murder, Detective Chief-Inspector Adam Dalgliesh is intrigued to find more than one fiancee among the suspects - such are the secrets that lie beneath the surface of English village life ...
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