The housekeeper for archaeologist Max Mallowan and his famous wife, Agatha Christie, former Army nurse Phyllida Bright is faced with murder and mayhem during a weekend party and assembles the household staff to find the killer among the Mallowan's guests.

Devon. Mallowan Hall combines the best of English tradition with the modern conveniences of 1930. The manor is home to archaeologist Max Mallowan and his famous wife, Agatha Christie. Housekeeper Phyllida Bright manages the large household, and is both loyal to and protective of the crime writer, who is as much friend as employer. Accustomed to murder and its methods as frequent topics of conversation, Phyllida is unprepared for the sight of a very real, very dead body on the library floor. It becomes clear the victim arrived at Mallowan Hall under false pretenses during a weekend party. Now Phyllida has a houseful of demanding guests on her hands, a distracted, anxious staff, and hordes of reporters camping outside. When the body of a housemaid is discovered, Phyllida assembles the clues. -- adapted from jacket