Ethel Lina White’s 1932 classic is one of the foundation stones of the village mystery sub-genre of crime fiction. Reveling in the delicious contrast of angelic outer appearances and the wickedness behind the facade, White’s novel is a witty and satisfying interwar mystery.

It was a model English village, filled with flowers, Tudor cottages, and cobbled streets. Joan Brook loved working there as a companion to Lady d'Arcy, living in the huge mansion with its surrounding park. And small though the village was, it was not too small for Joan to have found a man there whom she could love. Suddenly the peaceful surface of life there is shattered as a poisonous letter is received by the town's most saintly citizen. It is followed by others; no one is safe from the anonymous letter writer. And the letters bring death. In the anguished days that follow, Joan realizes her own danger. For to receive on of these letters could mean the end of her love - and her life!