The wealthy Jonathan Royal invites a variety of guests to his country estate for the weekend. However, the guests are ones with grudges and/or other reasons to dislike each other. Royal claims to have hopes the weekend will resolve the disagreements but that is suspect. Multiple attempts on the life of one guest, Nicholas Compline occur and he attempts to leave the gathering but is thwarted by the massive snowstorm that hit the area. When a murder finally occurs, halfway through the novel, it is William Compline, brother of Nicholas, who is the victim. Everyone suspects the foreign doctor who has continually insisted his innocence. The large cast of characters gives a multitude of possible victims and perpetrators. I thought about creating a scorecard to keep track of everyone. The arrival of Inspector Roderick Alleyn, who makes his way through the snow from a nearby home where he is conveniently staying with his wife, artist Agatha Troy, sets the real investigation in motion. There is a lot going on in this mystery but it's a bit of a slow starter.
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