Amid an Edwardian era of golden summers, of staggering excess, and rule by an elite, passions simmer under the confines of froufrou dresses and starched collars.Returning from the Boer War, George Erskine falls desperately in love with a debutante and heiress to a country estate. Much to his surprise, she accepts his marriage proposal but their union, with its unique terms, does little to enlighten him about his secretive wife, and the mystery deepens with her brutal death. Who among their small circle is the killer? No one is suspected of murder more than George, and even as he uncovers the truth about his wife’s past, he faces possible death from the hangman’s noose.