12-year-old Flavia has been ejected from Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada and is excited to be sailing home to England. But instead of a joyous homecoming, she is greeted on the docks with the news that her father is in hospital. Bored and annoyed by her blasted sisters and insufferable cousins, Flavia is only too eager to run errands for the vicar's wife - and soon stumbles upon the dead body of a reclusive wood-carver ... The eight novel in the mystery series featuring Flavia de Luce.