Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, encounter an uncharitable killer at a charity luncheon sponsored by a posh school for girls …

Good deeds build good character, and good character is what the Haverleigh School for Young Ladies is all about. Lady Phoebe-with the tireless assistance of Eva-has organized a luncheon to benefit wounded veterans of the Great War, encouraging the students to participate in the cooking and the baking. But too many cooks add up to a recipe for disaster when the school’s headmistress, Miss Finch, is fatally poisoned.

The girls at Haverleigh all come from highly respected English families, none of whom will countenance their darling daughters being harassed like common criminals by the local police. So Lady Phoebe steps in to handle the wealthy young debutantes with tact and discretion, while Eva cozies up to the staff. No one is above suspicion, not even members of the school’s governing body, some of whom objected to Miss Finch’s modern methods. But Lady Phoebe and Eva will have to sleuth with great stealth-or an elusive killer may try to teach someone else a lethal lesson …

Colorful information on the postwar period is combined with plenty of suspects, all neatly wrapped up in the style of a classic mystery.

-Kirkus Reviews