On the day of the ‘Royal Wedding' in July 1981 at a house party on the banks of the Thames, a little girl wanders off on her own. Her doll is found floating in the river, but of the girl herself there is no sign. Twenty years on and Antonia Darcy, divorcee and assistant librarian at the Military and Naval Club, still puzzles over the disappearance of Sonya Dufrette and the strange behavior of the awful Lawrence Dufrette, his exotic wife Lena, and intelligent and charming Lady Mortlock — not to mention the strange absence of the nanny. Ably assisted by her new admirer, Major Payne, Mrs. Darcy embarks on the first adventure in a new series of ingeniously plotted whodunits set against the background of country house life.