Ejected from Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada, Flavia de Luce is excited to be sailing home to England. But she is greeted on the docks with news that her father has fallen ill, and a hospital visit will have to wait while he rests. Buckshaw now seems both too empty, and not empty enough. Only too eager to run an errand for the vicar's wife, Flavia stumbles upon the body of a reclusive wood-carver, hanging upside down on the back of his bedroom door. The only living creature in the house is a feline that shows little interest in the disturbing scene.