Gertrude Powell led a very full and exciting life - perhaps too full in someone's eyes. Because now she has been murdered....No one was too surprised when octagenerian Gertrude Powell was found dead at Almstone Manor, a retirement home for former members of the Fearnshire Regiment. She had, after all, been very ill. But on the morning of the funeral, her son Lionel receives a disturbing letter - from his mother. In it, Gertrude states that someone is trying to kill her....For every fact Detective Inspector Sloan learns about Gertrude, there seems to be a mystery too. Why, for instance, would she never reveal the name of her second husband? And just what is the Pragmatic Solution she was so fearful of in her letter?