The intricate story tells of Lydia Brooke, a poet. When she was a student at Cambridge in the 1960s, she emulated her namesake, Edwardian poet, Rupert Brooke.
Lydia died five years prior to the events in this story. Her death was attributed to suicide.
Dr. Vic McClellan, Duncan Kincaid's former wife, calls him out of the blue and asks for his help. Duncan and his lover, Gemma Jones, have a comfortable life together. Duncan is a police superintendent at Scotland Yard and Gemma is a police sergeant there.
Gemma is a bit uncomfortable with Duncan seeing his former wife but doesn't say anything. While Duncan hadn't heard from Vic since she walked out on him twelve years ago, he agrees to help.
When he does, the fun begins. The complexity winds up and the literary characters jump out of the page.
Vic is doing a biography on Lydia and something about her death doesn't seem right. She wants Duncan to look at the case.
Although it's not in Duncan's district and he takes vacation to investigate, the facts begin to unravel
There is a major surprise and a cast of characters who might be guilty of murder. Alfred Hitchcock would be watering at the mouth thinking about directing this novel as a movie.
We visit the historical times back to WWI when Rupert Brooke died in 1915. Crumbie tells us that Brooke never saw action during the war. He died of blood poisoning at Division Field Day and when Churchill and other officials read his sonnets about the war, they thought he'd make a good martyr.
There is good insight into the character of Lydia through the newsy letters she writes to her mother.
Overall, interesting, an excellent police procedural and as Duncan and Emma examine the suspects, it is a story that captivates the reader.
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