Not even the imminent threat of a Japanese invasion can stop the notorious Lady Emily Gascoigne-Ridley from courting disaster - or even death - wherever she goes. When she decides to spend the winter of 1943 in Bexford North, simply to spite her relative, Annie Watson, she begins to wreak havoc in the villagers' lives. Within a week, she has the village in turmoil with her insinuations, her Russian Communist propaganda and her evil tale-bearing. When murder is discovered, Inspector Peters and his team do not have to search for the suspects - they are in bewildering abundance.