Something nasty is afoot in the quiet English seaside town of Southmouth in the New Forest. First, a retired army officer is found murdered at a local rubbish tip, apparently beaten to death with his own shovel. Then a second body is found close by, its features badly disfigured by the application of sulphuric acid. Investigations lead the police to popular local night-spot, the Silver Sickle - where they discover that the gay facade of its attendees hides a rotten core of treachery, greed and obsession...
Originally published in 1938, this is a classic British murder mystery from the creator of Colonel Gore.