An aristocrat dies under fishy circumstances in this tale by “the finest writer in the English language of the pure, classical puzzle whodunnit” (The Sun).

In an almost unspeakably charming little English village, one of the local aristocrats turns up dead next to the local trout-stream with, in fact, a trout at his side. Everyone is dreadfully upset, of course, but really, just a tad irritated as well—murder is so awfully messy. Inspector Alleyn doesn’t quite fit in among the inbred gentry, but they’ll allow him to do his work and clear the matter up—though they do wish he didn’t feel compelled to ask quite so many questions …

“The brilliant Ngaio Marsh ranks with Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. ” —Times Literary Supplement

“A peerless practitioner of the slightly surreal, English-village comedy-mystery. ” —Kirkus Reviews

“Any Ngaio Marsh story is certain to be Grade A. ” —The New York Times