Lord Edward Corinth's fiance, Verity Browne, returns from Prague with suspected tuberculosis. The only cure for TB in 1938 is rest and a healthy diet so she goes to a private clinic in Henley-on- Thames run by a Cambridge friend of Edward's.

Meanwhile, Edward investigates a series of murders with a Henley connection. His dentist, Eric Silver, has been murdered - shortly after sharing with Edward, his final patient, his suspicions about the deaths of three of his elderly patients. Silver had identified an entomological connection between the deaths. General Lowther had had a heart attack drinking a wine called Clos des Mouches, Hermione Totteridge, a well-known gardener, had been poisoned by the new insecticide with which she had been experimenting, and James Herold had been stung to death by his bees.

Edward goes to stay with his old friend Harry Makin inherited a title and a property in Henley. His investigation comes to a thrilling climax during what many believe will be the last Henley Royal Regatta before a new European war. Both Edward and Verity face death from someone, or something, wicked.

Praise for David Roberts

'A classic murder mystery with as complex a plot as one could hope for and a most engaging pair of amateur sleuths.' (Sweet Poison) Charles Osborne, author of The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie

'This is a witty and meticulous recreation of the class- ridden middle England of the 1930s... a perfect example of golden-age mystery traditions with the cobwebs swept away.' (Bones of the Buried) Guardian

'The plot is both intricate and enthralling, like Poirot on the high seas, and lovingly recorded by an author with a meticulous eye and a huge sense of fun.' Michael Dobbs.