Inspector Archie Penrose invites Josephine Tey down to his family home in Cornwall so she can recover from the traumatic events depicted in An Expert in Murder". Josephine welcomes the opportunity especially since Archies home is near the famous Minack open-air theatre perched on the cliffs overlooking the sea. However Josephines hopes of experiencing a period of rest are dashed when her arrival coincides with the funeral of a young man from the village who had drowned when his horse inexplicitly leapt into the nearby lake. When another young man disappears & the villages curate falls from the cliffs of the Minack Theatre onto the rocks below Josphine & Archie begin to suspect the involvement a cold-blooded murderer. As Josephine & Archie try to unravel the mystery they begin to see death as an angel with two faces
- one gazing at the violence in the present the other looking back to the crimes hidden in the past."