England
1919

Evelyn Turner receives an innocent enough letter from her friend Rosalie. It is an invitation to a surprise party, as Rosalie twenty-first birthday is in a very short while. The surprise is not that there will be a party, but what the party involves. The answer to this Rosalie herself does not know.
But Evelyn this receives the letter later than planned, and must rush out the door practically the moment she reads it.
After a lavish train ride, Evelyn arrives at her friend’s estate, introductions are made, and incidents arise that at the time seem to be of no real consequence.
Gathered around the dinner table, are the fourteen members of the party, some are in on the surprise, but others like Evelyn and Rosalie are in the dark.
Dr Wilfred Auel, an Archaeologist of some renown, stands at the head of the table, it is he that has conceived and is arranging the surprise party.
He informs the cast of characters that, they will be travailing to America for a Holiday. This is exciting enough in itself, but when Wilfred explains that they will be travelling to America on the most renowned ship in creation, the party can hardly contain themselves.
Soon enough they are at sea, but all is not well. There are murmurs of foul play, and Evelyn seeks to discover the source. Nigel, one of the guests, has concocted some sort of plan, what this plan consists of he will not tell even his wife.
Another of the fourteen guests falls strangely ill, only hours after she almost tells a secret of her own. Poison?
Investigations are made by the unexperienced Evelyn, but she can discover nothing that can give course to her suspicions, she decides, thankfully that she must have been wrong.
The night of Rosalie’s twenty-first birthday arrives, and all has been smooth sailing.
The only point of worry is that the ill guest has become even worse.
As the night progresses and the party begins, fun is had by most. The dancing and games run deep into the night, but one of the party is missing, supposedly working on some important business. Their absence becomes ridiculous and they go to tell them so. But instead they find a corpse, Wilfred Auel is dead. Murdered. Stabbed.

Thirteen members of the party remain, thirteen suspects. Any many questions remian unanswered.
What was Nigel’s plan? Who left the bloody footprint found at the crime scene? Why did one of the guests change his shoes? Why is one of the guests so strangely ill?
What is relevant to the murder? What is irrelevant? What are the ‘red herrings’?
Who is going to solve the most puzzling of murders? Will more murders follow?
And who murdered famed Archaeologist Dr Wilfred Auel and why?