Headland House, so named because it was situated on a narrow headland overlooking the scenic Maine village of Headland Harbor, was a picturesque place to spend a summer holiday. The village was something of an artist's colony, and the house itself, though barely accessible, offered stunning views of the sea, so the Varians had been more than willing to rent the house for the summer and invite family to join them. But, when on a picnic, Betty Varian and her father return to the house for a forgotten camera the father is murdered and daughter disappears. As the rest of the party were waiting on the only path to the house, in plain sight of the front door, the crime presents a seemingly unsolvable mystery. Was it a murder or a suicide? A kidnapping? And what has happened to the girl, Betty Varian? These are the questions that confront the famed detective Pennington Wise as he attempts to solve . . . The Vanishing of Betty Varian