A mysterious woman in black, appears at night. Arriving in horse and carriage. Stays at Kyrme Cottage, then at night – disappears. She always wears black lace. Abbey Combe's new Vicar vanishes overnight. A corpse found buried in the garden. Murder in Richmond Park. And the link with Jane Austen! These mysteries confront amateur sleuths, Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby in the Somerset village of Milford. Among the eccentrics is the shadowy Madam Malefic. "She's nuttier than any fruit cake Escoffier ever baked."