It had seemed an innocent lark, a group of young friends taking a short term lease on a holdover from London's past, an elegant house full of history and genuine if shabby furnishings. But when a silly prank turns tragic and one of their number, pretending to be a ghost, is shot dead by a pistol supposedly filled with blanks, the holiday becomes a matter for the police, specifically Chief Inspector Pointer of Scotland Yard. Was the death truly just a tragic accident, or was something more sinister behind it? There are plenty of clues and presumed motives, but almost from the beginning Pointer suspects there is than meets the eye to . . . The Tall House Mystery