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The village square is bathed in torchlight. Spectators huddle against the cold this November night, Guy Fawkes Night, in Upper Kingsleigh, England. Shadows encroach at the edge of the square, but faces are turned inward, all eyes focused on the four-hundred-year-old ceremony of the burning of a straw effigy of Guy Fawkes, a symbol of English freedom and national pride. The flaming torch extends to light the straw -- and the villagers recoil in horror. Twisting at the end of the rope is no straw-filled dummy. Its the corpse of an American tourist.

This death ends an uneasy weekend. Friday saw Mischief Night -- an evening of pranks, much like trick-or-treat but without the treat. Saturday followed with the Graveyard Dole, the annual occasion for Talbot, the village odd-jobs man, to vociferously protest the current heirs eligibility to the financial gift. Unfortunately, Talbots rightful claim as lawful beneficiary cannot be proved.

Newly-made Detective-Sergeant Brenna Taylor, Derbyshire C.I.D., is anxious to prove herself during the murder investigation. Shes skillful, determined, and imaginative in her crime solving, but faces the obstacle of male resistance in her field. Heading the investigating team is Detective-Chief Inspector Geoffrey Graham, former minister and a brilliant, intimidating man whom Brenna works hard to impress. Which would be easier if murder suspects werent so numerous. Among them are the Americans brother-in-law, still angry over his sisters death; the husband, who fears his wife will desert him for the American; the inebriated, penniless uncle, who clings to his nephews fortune tighter than a cork in a wine bottle. As Brenna digs into the lives of the villagers, she becomes the target of frightening pranks. Are these the work of one of her harassing male colleagues, or a deadly warning to leave the case? Not only must Brenna solve this personal mystery while working on the two murders, but she must also sort out her conflicting emotions of trepidation and love for Chief Inspector Graham.

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