On Friday next, pub owner Jack Steadman would hang for the murder of Alfie Goode, drunkard and ne'er-do-well. The case was open-and-shut to everyone but Miss Harriet Unwin, who had less than a week to prove that Jack, a Crimean war hero, was innocent. Her snooping soon took her to the ballroom of a retired general's stately manor. But there, between the quadrilles and waltzes, Miss Unwin had to step most carefully, for a killer could make her next partner... death!

Bright as a new penny, and incredibly clever, Harriet Unwin has a knack for criminal investigation. The most engaging young sleuth ever to snoop upstairs and downstairs, Miss Unwin is also one of the most charming creations of Britain's popular and prolific mystery writer, H.R.F. Keating...