England, July 1926
The scion of the Sutherlands, Crispin Astley, Viscount St George, has been using Sutherland House in London as his bachelor pad and love nest whenever he's been in Town carousing with his set of Bright Young People. As such, when a young woman with a baby shows up at the door, looking for the Duke's grandson, everyone assumes that Crispin is responsible.
Pippa never expected to have the opportunity to meet the mother and child herself, but that's just what happens one day in July. During a weekend party at Beckwith Place to celebrate Cousin Francis's 30th birthday, there they are: the tired young woman and the baby with the fair Sutherland hair and Astley blue eyes.
Everyone in the family is present for the celebration. Aunt Roz and Uncle Herbert, Francis and his new fiancée, Constance Peckham. Pippa, Cousin Christopher, and Cousin Crispin. Even Crispin's father, the recently widowed Duke of Sutherland, has turned up for his nephew's combination birthday celebration and engagement party.
And when the young woman winds up dead on the grounds of Beckwith Place, bashed over the head with a croquet mallet, the field is wide open. All the men in the family were present. One of them was responsible for getting her with child, and now someone-the same person or someone else-is responsible for ending her life. The only question is who?
