In the winter of 1924, Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher travels to a school friend's house to witness the estate's famous Guy Fawkes celebration. But she gets more than the quiet weekend at the quaint family manse that she was originally hoping for.

The home is the site of some severe family tension. The Viscount and head of the family is a strict and unyielding sort, insisting that everyone—especially his children—meet his own unreasonable expectations. On the evening of the Guy Fawkes celebration, the Viscount is found dead on the floor of his study, killed by his own hand. What's more, he apparently first killed a guest—a married woman visiting England from Australia—before turning the gun on himself.

Now it's up to Alec Fletcher, Daisy's husband and a DCI of Scotland Yard, to unravel the mystery and the long-held family secrets that led to this state of affairs. But a solution will require, perhaps, more than a little help from Daisy herself.