Sir Arthur Billington-Smith is not a nice person: he is arrogant, opinionated, and abusive. His verbal abuse makes life a constant misery for his hapless wife, Fay. One truly awful weekend when Fay is trying to host a house party, Arthur's son and heir, Geoffrey, brings home Lola de Silva, a Mexican cabaret dancer who is wonderfully obtuse, vastly colorful, and totally unsuitable as a future Lady Billington-Smith. Arthur is absolutely incensed and takes his rage out on everyone. Therefore, when he is found stabbed to death in his study later in the day, all those in the house become suspects. Set during the 1930's - it was written in 1934 it has that feel of an Agatha Christie mystery. I never really thought of Heyer as being a modern mystery writer as she is known for her Gothic romances. White it was a fun kind of historical look at the time, there was nothing really remarkable or memorable. The cover made it look better than it was for me.