A White Circle pocket novel

> Kurt Wiegler, the new locum in the village of Exton Forcett, is distinctly unpopular, inserting himself in situations where he is not wanted. No one is particularly upset when he is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, and the verdict of accidental death satisfies everyone... that is, until another death follows soon after.

Among the visitors to the Verekers' family mansion of Four Acres was Lewis Bishop — the perfect victim, whom everyone had reason to hate and fear. When he is suddenly shot dead in the darkness of the library one night all he leaves behind him is an unpleasant memory and a pretty puzzle for the police and, of course, for Arthur Crook, that irrepressible and slightly unscrupulous detective who is in particularly fine form.

A false alarm at Everard Hope's home leads to a fatal tumble down the staircase by the miserly owner. The assembled relations are flabberghasted when Hope's lawyer informs them that he had remade his will, and none of them stand to inherit. The entire estate goes to a quiet, dowdy, sheltered spinster named Dorothea Capper - however, there's a condition. Miss Capper won't receive her inheritance until 30 days have passed, giving somebody time to ensure she doesn't live to inherit.