On a cold and stormy night in Slopperton-on-the-Sloshy, Richard Marwood returns after a mysterious and long disappearance. While his rich uncle aids him in starting a new life, his reappearance is quickly upended after he is apparently framed for murder. Meanwhile, Jabez North—prodigal son of Slopperton-on-the-Sloshy—schemes to make his fortunes by any means possible.

The Trail of the Serpent is M. E. Braddon’s first book. Although it initially met with poor sales under its original title of Three Times Dead , it was later revised and re-issued under its current title to much wider recognition, and is now considered to be one of the first British detective novels.