Gervase and Ophelia Lloyd-Beauchamp inherit Farthing Abbey, a long neglected estate in a mellow English setting, and with it a chance to redeem a flawed marriage. But the old pile must pay its way. A curious crew of media folk comes down for the weekend: Events take a startling turn. An erotic encounter in the Temple of Venus, a broody scene in the Chinese Boudoir. A drunken repast in the Privy Parlour, fights in the Long Gallery, a body left for dead in the Orangery. Tragedy lurks beneath the waters of the Scenic Lake. Come morning, an artist finds his muse and a lady fondly imagines her true love. But a crime from the distant past reaches out to claim those living in the present. The fate of a sensitive young wife with a brutish older husband unravels in a world where individuals bow to blind forces pulling unseen strings behind the stones of Farthing Abbey. With its mix of comic and tragic, real and surreal, this novel has the pace of a modern film or TV drama unfolding before your eyes.