In Deeping, a village so tiny that its residents share a common phone line, gossip is the chief amusement. Scotland Yard inspector Frank Abbott has family there, and thinks it a charming spot for a vacation until the country quiet is broken by a cry of “Murder!”

A young German woman, recently come to town, has been making vague threats about recovering something that was stolen from her. She disappears for a weekend, and a woman of her description is seen brutally murdered on a country road. But when Inspector Abbot goes to see the body, the corpse has gone. He takes the peculiar case to Miss Silver, the brilliant amateur detective, and she agrees to investigate the small town where gossip turned fatal.

Miss Silver mystery #14