The Rant sisters have gathered a reputation in their coastal village of Abbots Crozier. As daughters of a deceased -- and, in his time, far from beloved -- medical doctor, Morpeth and Bryony Rant decided to remain in the family house and try their hand at raising Pharaoh hounds. Their present canine pool numbers six, all christened with proper Egyptian names such as Isis, Osiris, and Anubis. Two additions to this nontraditional family were soon acquired: Susan, a stoic villager who helps out and refuses payment; and Sekhmet, a black Labrador dog with the friendliest demeanor of all. Susan's discovery of the Lab's early-morning disappearance prompts a countryside search, where the dog is found guarding a pair of trousers and paying no attention to the dead man in the nearby river.

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Dame Beatrice is intrigued. She had just received a visit from Bryony and an unwelcome stranger who showed up at the Rant house. Though the man affected to be an Aristophanes-quoting loony, the Home Office psychiatrist felt there was more to it than that. The unidentified victim, however, was not the prospective patient. Instead, that man becomes the second corpse, meeting his death by having his throat slit. As the late doctor's surgery scalpels have disappeared, Dame Beatrice becomes increasingly convinced that the murders are linked in some way to the spinster sisters.