A Shakespearean actor shuffles off his mortal coil in this "skillfully wrought" country-house mystery (The New York Times).Sir Henry Ancred, a celebrated Shakespearean actor, has arranged to have his portrait painted by Agatha Troy, wife of Inspector Roderick Alleyn. But when Ancred is killed at his own birthday party, leaving behind a family full of suspects, Troy''s work ends and Inspector Alleyn''s begins . . ."It''s time to start comparing Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around." —New York Magazine"A peerless practitioner of the slightly surreal, English-village comedy-mystery." —Kirkus Reviews