The Beckoning Lady

"As the day for Tonker's party approaches, the peace of Pontisbright is disturbed by death. When old William Faraday dies in the autumn of his days, the village mourns. But their reactions are very different when a body is discovered at the bottom of a ditch with a large hole in the head. . .

It is fortunate that Albert Campion, fiction's most urbane detective, is there to clear up the mess so the party can go on."