While her pretty older sister Louisa is being presented to London society in the hope of snaring a wealthy and titled husband, young Lydia Bramwell is packed off to her Aunt Camilla in rural Sussex for the season. High-spirited Lydia expects a very dull visit, but the village of Diddlington is not the idyllic spot she anticipates. When a charred and bludgeoned corpse is found in the woods nearby, suspicion falls on Camilla's suitor, a handsome Frenchman. Convinced of his innocence, Lydia enlists the help of her new friend, John Savidge, in catching the real killer. But, before their dangerous adventure ends, there will be more than one unexpected discovery.