That four people plotted his murder -- each one more an amateur than he was himself -- would have seemed inconceivable to Edward Hammond, who thought himself immune to trouble, the one threat having been disposed of. This is a new approach to a murder story and augurs well for the creative gift of a newcomer in the field of mysteries. While not wholly convincing, the reader goes along sympathetically with sopes for the speedy demise of the principal character. The setting, an English illage.