The detective novels of M. C. Beaton, a master of outrageous black comedy, have reached cult status. -- "The Times"

When Police Constable Hamish Macbeth is called to a murder at Arrat House, home of relentless practical joker Arthur Trent, he doesn't exactly race to the scene. Prepared for a prank, Hamish arrives to find that Trent is most decidedly dead -- stabbed and stuffed in a closet. And for suspects, there's a houseful of greedy relations, all more interested in the will than the crime at hand.