His respected – not very respected – chief had been grumbling all the way from London, and now the speeding Alvis was well into the wild and hilly country of Derbyshire, he was more caustic than ever.

When Chief Inspector Bill “Ironsides” Cromwell accepts an invitation to spend Christmas at his sergeant’s family seat, Cloon Castle, he doesn’t realise the mysteries he’ll encounter. First, there is a mysterious figure who leaves no footprints, despite the heavy snow. Then an incident in a haunted room leads to a much more sinister mystery.