When Lady Lorrister is brutally murdered, Simon Brade, visiting the local vicar, a school-day friend, finds himself called on to investigate. Brade, a collector of oriental porcelain and amateur detective, is no stranger to murder, though his methods are unorthodox at best. As a detective, he finds himself trying to answer the usual questions, and some that aren’t, such as “Why did the person who discovered the body say she was wearing a black dress when it was in fact a very dark green?†He is sure it means something, he’s just not sure what.