Dr Hilary Joyner is neither well liked nor well respected among his academic peers. However, he believes his next project will bring him the recognition he deserves. Although his latest book deadline is looming, Ethelred Tressider unwittingly finds himself hosting both the academic and his redoubtable literary agent, Elsie Thirkettle, for the weekend. But it isn't long before Joyner's research project comes to an abrupt end... A darkly funny tribute to the golden age of crime fiction.