Thea throws herself into house sitting for Babs and Cedric Angell in Lower Slaughter follower her beloved father's death, anything to keep her busy and away from some of her rather difficult relatives. Although it's lonely she has her spaniel Hepzie for company and keeping the house in order and looking after the Angells' menagerie of animals does the trick for a short period of time.

But when Thea's prickly older sister turns up, after witnessing a horrific killing , the timeless tranquillity of Lower Slaughter vanishes, replaced by the sinister connotations of the town's name.