A year after Sir Edward Grey’s sudden collapse and death, his widow Lady Julia realizes the truth in what Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent, had told her: Sir Edward had received threat­en­ing letters. She engages Brisbane to in­ves­ti­gate the possible murder and starts asking questions herself.

The most re­spectable member of her large, eccentric family, Julia starts to shed her Victorian con­ven­tion­al­i­ty as she is drawn to the enigmatic Brisbane.