A Procurator Fiscal in Scotland, being responsible for public prosecutions, needs to be a fairly hard-minded lawyer. Simon Rattar is an older lawyer of just this type. Along with holding the office Procurator Fiscal in his small town, he also serves as factor for the estate of the local laird whose wider clan is well-represented in the vicinity. Naturally, when one of Rattar’s esteemed clients is murdered in strange circumstances, the local gossips struggle to make sense of the killing—and the police aren’t much the wiser, either.

J. Storer Clouston’s sleuth, called in when the slow-witted rural detective fails to make progress, is the monocled and gentlemanly F. T. Carrington , anticipating by some years the first appearance of that more famous and aristocratic monocle-wearer, Lord Peter Wimsey .