The village of Frazer's Mills is a small, isolated village, where everyone knows everyone else and things haven't changed much (and the mills have been closed for quite some time). When murder suddenly intrudes upon this sedate rural backwater, Henry Gamadge arrives to solve the mystery and restore order. The novel is particularly remarkable for its tense opening chapters describing a prowler who walks around the village rattling doors and frightening the residents, as well as the descriptions of the local types who populate it.
