"No mummers, no murderers, no mountains," pleaded Lady Lewker, having persuaded her husband, the well-known actor-producer and amateur detective, Sir Abercrombie, to take a much-needed holiday in Majorca. But before their plane even took off they were involved with the first of these - Natalie Nash, once a repertory actress, now a wealthy stockbroker's widow, also travelling to Majorca. In a matter of hours after his arrival Sir Abercrombie was to find himself involved also in the problems of murder and in the challenging setting of mountains.

A strangely assorted collection of tourists gathered in his hotel: Doctor Kurt Schofield, Elder Brother of Jehovah's Host and his wife, Esther; the retired naval Captain Birtwistle; John Voules, recently acquitted of the murder of his wife, and his medical attendant, Doctor Charles Browning; Father Miguel, the curious Torquemada-like priest; and finally the glamorous Marta Heidegger, archaeologist and novelist.

In an idyllic landscape bathed in calm sunshine a sequence of horrible events was breathlessly enacted. Sir Abercrombie must work fast to bring the murderer to justice if he's to save his restful holiday, or maybe even his own life.