Abduction goes terribly wrong and a wealthy heiress is brutally murdered. The chief suspect, her husband, goes into a life of seclusion, until a threatening message lands at his feet. As a sinister individual lurks in the shadows, Mrs. Xavier Stayton and her loyal friend, Lucy Wallace, must reexamine the past to discover the truth of this new threat. What can be learned from a paranoid husband, a vindictive brother, and a missing French maid? Is it all just window dressing, or is there truth to the story? One secret leads to another, and the truth seems impossible to deduce ... until Mrs. X is on the case. What do the critics have to say? "The most suspenseful book I've read this year. I never would have guessed whodunit." -Inspector Harris, Brighton Police "I never wanted to put it down; couldn't read it fast enough; after all, Mrs. Burk-Stayton comes to my shop every Friday." -Judith Douglas, Mother Stayton's hairdresser. "If she thinks that my daughter looks like a deranged Kewpie doll, then I'll tell her what I really think of her awful book." -Katherine MacDonald, former friend of Mrs. Xavier Stayton