Tommy and Tuppence Beresford have just become the proud owners of an old house in an English village. Along with the property, they have inherited some worthless bric-a-brac, including a collection of antique books. While rustling through a copy of The Black Arrow, Tuppence comes upon a series of apparently random underlinings.However, when she writes down the letters, they spell out a very disturbing message:M a r y ??? J o r d a n ??? d i d ??? n o t ??? d i e ??? n a t u r a l l y???