The lean years following World War I can lead to desperate actseven in the quiet English village of Walmsley Parva. When a series of burglaries seems to culminate in murder, brash American Beryl Helliwelland proper Brit Edwina Davenportare eager to solve the case . . .  World-renowned adventuress Beryl Helliwell cited for reckless motoring? Why, the very idea! Constable Gibbs just has it in for her. The solution? Charm the magistrate, of course. But days after Beryl's appearance before the bench, she and Edwina pay a visit to the magistrate only to find his home ransacked and the man himself lying dead at the bottom of a grand staircase.  Given the state of the house, his death appears to be connected to a rash of robberies in the village. Declan OShea, the handsome helper Beryl hired to assist their aged gardener Simpkins, falls under suspicion after having had his own run-in with the magistratebut mostly, Beryl believes, because hes Irish.  While unofficially looking into the magistrate's murder, the ladies are hired in their official capacity as private inquiry agents to find census reports that have gone missing. Is someone trying to hide something from the census takersand could that theft have anything to do with the magistrates death? Beryl and Edwina are once again in fine form as they engage in a little reckless sleuthing to bring these assorted mysteries to a speedy conclusion. . . .