When colonel Anthony Forbes-Leith, a retired diplomat, proudly present the first harvest on sale of his Kimbleford wine estate, only the third in modern England, the cask proves spoiled by his dog's corpse. The prime suspect, insolent laborer Henry Gibbs, who intends to collect some major debt from the colonel, is told off privately, breaks in but is found fatally shot in the manor that night. Brown and Inspector Sullivan must deal with past and present secrets concerning alibis, motives and false identities of all survivors, including the colonel, arrested as owner of the murder weapon, French winemaker Gregoire Bisset, the colonel's infirm mother Lady Edna and their assertive housekeeper Mabel Grayson and foxy maid Emily Fletcher.
—KGF Vissers