American scientist Thomas Betterton has disappeared form a conference in Paris--only the latest in a series of notable men to vanish into thin air. Equally strange is the death of his new bride in Casablanca. To discover the secret she took to her grave, British Intelligence enlists the aide of an unlikely secret agent--an enigmatic young woman with nothing left to lose. The proposal for Hilary Craven? Impersonate the late Mrs. Betterton. But the...

The personal ad posed a simple question: Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne. The answer is a resounding no for a jealous wife who suspects her husband of infidelity...for a lonely widow driven to assume a new identity...for a distraught mother whose son has been kidnapped...and for the fiancé of a strangely reclusive bride-to-be. But what sort of detective would solicit in the personals? The sort who has a knack for investigating affairs...

An elderly lady suspected of murder in the sleepy village of Wychwood dies--another victim of an unseen hand. Since too many accidents and unexplained deaths have occurred, even for a town with a history of witchcraft, policeman Luke Fitzwilliam vows to discover the reason--and finds a very cunning killer.