As England recovers from its costly involvement in the Great War, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her ladyâs
maid, Eva Huntford, find the steady comforts of their lives unsettled by a local case of murder âŠ
Eva is excited for a visit from her sister Alice, who lives in Suffolk with her husband and three children. But when
Alice arrives alone, desiring a break from her family, Eva becomes concerned. Her dismay deepens as Alice starts
spending time with a former beau, Keenan Ripley, who owns the nearby pear orchard. At the same time, Phoebeâs
sister Julia, now a widow and pregnant, is in a fretful state, and Phoebe struggles to be helpful to her.
When Keenanâs brother Stephen, the new head gardener at the Renshaw estate, Foxwood Hall, is found impaled by
a pair of hedge clippers, the policeâincluding Evaâs beau, Constable Miles Brannockâsuspect his closest kin. Stephen
had been eager to sell their orchard to an American developer, but Keenan had fiercely resisted. A table set with two
teacups and scones suggests Keenan had company the morning of the murderâand Eva fears her sister was with him.
If Alice were to provide Keenan with an alibi, her reputation and marriage would be ruined. She denies being there
but is clearly withholding secrets, much to Evaâs consternation. Now, to protect her sister, Eva and Phoebe set off to
expose the gardenerâs real killer, putting their own lives at risk âŠ