Publisher's Synopsis
`The best detective story that has appeared for some time ... it will undoubtedly stand as one of the class leaders in the English school.' The SpectatorJudge William Barber's tour of the Southern Circuit starts off normally enough, with as much ceremony as wartime England will permit and a calendar consisting of the usual array of civil disputes and criminal cases. But then, a series of strange incidents occurs. Francis Pettigrew and Inspector Mallett are faced with perplexing, perhaps deadly, puzzle. Are these unrelated mishaps a string of particularly nasty practical jokes, or is someone trying to murder Judge Barber?
