A brilliantly conceived murder mystery

At dinner after the church fete that Eleanor Maxie has hosted in her grounds at Martingale, Sally Jupp, the newly employed parlor-maid and an unmarried mother, breaks the shocking news that Eleanor’s son Stephen has proposed to her. The next morning, Sally is found dead, strangled in her bed. There is no lack of suspects. Inspector Adam Dalgliesh from Scotland Yard painstakingly clears up a complex mesh of lies and tangled relationships between suspects. P.D.James’ skillful narrative keeps the reader guessing to the very end.