The quiet village of Little Compton prides itself on community spirit, idyllic country walks, and knowing everyone’s business. But beneath its picturesque façade lurks a darkness that claimed Gloria Wiggins, found hanging from a beam in her garage on a crisp autumn morning.

No one mourns Gloria. The elderly woman had cultivated enemies with meticulous dedication throughout decades in the village. Her poison-pen letters destroyed marriages. Her public accusations ruined reputations. Many blamed her for kindly vicar James Baxter’s fatal heart attack that followed her vicious outburst during Sunday service years ago.

When Detective Inspector Keith Tremayne and Sergeant Clare Yarwood arrive, they find a village unified only in collective relief at Gloria’s passing. Initial evidence points to suicide—a final spiteful act from a woman who lived to cause pain. But Tremayne’s instincts sense something more sinister behind this convenient narrative.

As they methodically interview villagers, they discover nearly everyone had motive to silence Gloria permanently. The shopkeeper whose business faltered after her accusations. The schoolteacher whose career was jeopardized by rumors. The doctor whose patients abandoned him after her insinuations.

Then a second body appears—another village resident connected to Gloria’s past. And a third. The methodical killer works through a list that only makes sense when Tremayne uncovers a decades-old secret at the heart of the village—a terrible truth Gloria had threatened to expose.