Josephine Tey

Literary sherry parties were not Alan Grant's cup of tea. But when the Scotland Yard Inspector arrived to pick up actress Marta Hallard for dinner, he was struck by the handsome young American photographer, Leslie Searle. Author Lavinia Fitch was sure her guest "must have been something very wicked in ancient Greece," and the art colony at Salcott St. Mary would have agreed. Yet Grant heard nothing more of Searle until the news of his disappearance....

When a woman's body washes up on an isolated stretch of beach on the southern coast of England, Scotland Yard's Inspector Alan Grant is on the case. But the inquiry into her death turns into a nightmare of false leads and baffling clues. Was there anyone who didn't want lovely screen actress Christine Clay dead?

[Young and innocent] When a woman's body is discovered on the beach by one of her former lovers, he races off to call the police. Two witnesses see him run and think he is the escaping killer. After being arrested, he manages to escape in the confusion at the courthouse. With the assistance of the constable's daughter, he tries to prove his innocence while avoiding the police. [The Cheney vase] A fired curator begins to manipulate an elderly woman...