"Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light. And she has another quality, not usually associated with crime stories, elegance." —Agatha Christie

Timothy Kinnit is rich, handsome, and successful, but his past is a mystery to him. When he learns, on the eve of his elopement, that he is adopted, he must question everything he thought he knew.

In desperate search of answers, Kinnit calls on private detective Albert Campion to shed some light on his past, and how it connects him to the notorious Turk Street Mile slum. Meanwhile, his illustrious adopted family has a sinister secret of its own—involving a murderous nineteenth-century governess—that must also be brought to light by Campion's investigations.

"Allingham is very, very good and those who are not familiar with her have a discovery awaiting them."—Los Angeles Times