Sarah Keate has been employed to nurse Bayard Thatcher, vicious ne'er do well cousin of the rich and aristocratic Thatcher family. Bayard has been shot in the shoulder, an impossible wound for the purported gun cleaning accident that caused it. There's a large cast of Thatchers and hangers on: Miss Adela, the oldest sister and head of the household; Hilary, Adela's blustering lawyer brother and his pragmatic wife Evelyn; youngest brother Dave, reclusive and unwell, who is married to the young and beautiful Janice; Alan, brother of Evelyn, in love with Janice; Florrie, a nosy, malicious maid; the loyal, deaf servant Evangeline; the doctor, whose mother is a Thatcher; an untrustworthy gardener. When there is a murder, everyone is suspect.

I enjoyed this leisurely period piece. Nurse Keate spends a lot of time going over what has happened and saying how frightened she is, building atmosphere. The plot is dependent on timetables: who could have entered the house to carry out the crime? Suspicion passes from one character to another in the traditional way. Not one of the author's best, but I liked it. ( )