Glade Manor, in the village of the Buckford, has been home to the Morley family for over a century. For the past thirty years, the family has been looked after by their devoted former nursemaid, now housekeeper, Nanky. But the family is cast into turmoil when the body of Nanky is found in a quarry, having been violently thrown from a cliff. With the death clearly murder and the suspects all local, the puzzling case proves too much for the local police force.