Lord Julian Caldicott is summoned to the country home of a family friend to look for a prize foxhound who's gone missing. The purloined canine turns out to be only the tail of a series of puzzles involving family secrets, slander, blackmail, and fraud. Matters grow more baffling when Julian is told to drop the investigation, though suspects abound, motives are multiplying apace, and a large sum of money has come into play.

Hounded by mischief...

Julian survives an attempt on his life, and endures slights to his honor rather than give up on his objective. Before the truth is revealed-and the hound brought safely home-he will have to choose between protecting his only surviving brother from ruin, or allowing a scoundrel to get away with the next thing to murder.