Euphemia Martins, the estranged granddaughter of an Earl, entered service incognito with the Stapleford family to save her family from destitution and from that moment on she acquired the bothersome reputation of finding dead bodies. Now a paid companion to the deplorable Richenda Stapleford, she is staying at the country estate of Hans Muller upon whom Richenda has matrimonial designs. Mere weeks after their arrival Richenda’s twin brother, Richard, dispatches a servant bearing news of shocking accusations concerning Muller. Euphemia finds herself unravelling an old murder with Richenda as her unlikely ally but delving into the past sets off a dangerous series of events in the present…