A storm rages round the towers of the big house near Geneva. Behind the locked doors of the library, the Baron, the Baroness and their handsome young secretary are not to be disturbed. In the attic, the Baron's lunatic brother howls and hurls plates at his keeper.
But in the staff quarters, all is under control. Under the personal supervision of Lister, the Baron's incomparable butler, the servants make their own, highly lucrative preparations for the tragedy.
The night is long, but morning will bring a crime passionnel of outstanding attraction and endless possibilities.
Muriel Spark has created a world in her own idiom - bizarre, gruesome and brilliantly funny.