The year is 1845. The former Miss Agnes Bell has finally overcome her misgivings about marriage, and tied the knot with her long-time admirer, solicitor Richard Tyrrell. Thanks to her husband’s generosity, she is enabled to fulfil her lifelong ambition to own and run a school of her own, in the main street of his home town. With a vocation she loves, and a husband who adores her, she has never been so happy in her life.
But there are clouds on the horizon. What originally appears a run-of-the-mill swindle soon takes a more sinister turn. Evidence mounts that a sadistic serial killer is at large, evil beyond belief. Truly a Devil in disguise. What’s more, it seems that a member of Miss Bell’s own staff may be implicated.
Could it be the strait-laced Miss Jessop, involved in an unlikely love affair, or the effeminate sketching tutor Cecil St. John-Davenport? Or even a badly-behaved schoolgirl, who delights in tormenting the most junior assistant mistress?
On the face of it the crimes are insoluble: none of the suspects could have committed them. But with the help of Constables Shenton and Napier of the local police, Miss Bell and her devoted spouse finally uncover the truth. Bringing the culprit to justice may prove a different matter …