American language expert Torrey Tunet, back in Ireland for a second visit (The Irish Cottage Murder, 1999), has scarcely unpacked her bags when she sees her neighbor Dr. Gerald Ashenden, just back from the city, run down by a horse under the dubious command of his reckless granddaughter Rowena Keegan. The doctor’s wish to keep the incident secret is doomed by two pieces of bad luck: its witnessing by Sgt. Jimmy Brydon, and Ashenden’s death soon after in another horsy mishap.
