Amateur detective Albert Campion is summoned to Cambridge to assist the Faraday family with a mystery. He must untangle a web of family resentments and discover the truth behind the disappearance of one of the Faraday cousins, vanished without a trace one Sunday morning after church, only to be found dead in a secluded stream. Matters are complicated further by the murder of Julia, one of the Faraday sisters, poisoned by her morning cup of tea. Campion must unravel a chillingly ingenious plot, strewn with red herrings, to get to the real secret of the Faradays.