After she is cleared for the murder of her husband, Harriet Vane seeks solace in the country, but is soon attempting to solve another murder with her good friend Lord Peter Wimsey when a body washes up on shore and then mysteriously disappears.
Harriet Vane the mystery writer, cleared of murder through the efforts of Lord Peter Wimsey, seeks solace in the country. Walking along a barren beach she stumbles across the body of a bearded young man with his throat cut. From the moment she photographs the corpse, which soon disappears with the tide, she is puzzled by a mystery that might have been suicide, murder or a political plot. With the appearance of her dear friend Lord Peter Wimsey, she finds a reason for detective pursuit ... as only the two of them can.