A short novel of suspense and the supernatural, largely set in Venice. A widowed countess, who is soon to remarry, becomes a figure of fear and curiosity. After a death in the family, she takes rooms in an old palace that has become a hotel, a place with an unsettling reputation. Strange events follow, and an insurance investigator becomes involved. Collins blends ghostly atmosphere with the logic of a crime story, and the Venetian setting adds to the gloom and mystery.