Vicious Circle

The self-willed, arrogant old Mrs. Carlow dies, seemingly of a self-administered overdose of her prescribed medicine, in the small country town of Croxley. The tangle of family intermarriage in the town has produced a situation in which Mrs. Carlow's doctor, her solicitor, the coroner, and the police chief are all related to her -- and to each other. The issue is further complicated by the fact that Mrs. Carlow had earlier planned fake attempts at suicide to distress her relatives. So it seems hardly a matter of good form that an investigation into what could be a case of murder should be pursued at the local level. Thus, Scotland Yard is called in, and Chief Superintendent Masters and Chief Inspector Green are soon treading delicately in an enquiry in which several of their important witnesses and colleagues are possible suspects.