Dido Hoare goes to visit her friend Lizzie Waring in Somerset. The Warings live on a large estate called Monksdale, but Lizzie and her husband (one of the brothers) live in a cottage on the property. A son who confessed to the murder of a maid is being released from prison. He had a rather short sentence but Dido does not understand why his sentence was so long under the circumstances as related to her. When she talks to the investigating officer, she learns of several of his misgivings about the case from the start. She begins her own investigation into the matter. There is a missing rare edition of Peter Rabbit that is obviously related to the case. The setting of this installment reminds one of the old Gothic or romantic suspense novels. This book, however, definitely does not fit into the romance category. The fact that Dido had other females to turn to for help is also a departure from the usual plots in that field. The setting mainly served as a backdrop for the sinister misdeed that had occurred a few years ago. As with most cozies, the plot is not very plausible in several places. It was also pretty obvious from an early point in the novel what had happened. I did not really like the way the author ended the novel, leaving readers wishing that the threads had been more satisfactorily resolved. ( )