Various singers and musicians are gathered for a course in folk music that will occupy a weekend in the fantastic country mansion called Follymead. Most come only to sing or to listen, but one or two have non-musical scores to settle. When brilliantly talented Liri Palmer sings “Black, black, black is the color of my true-love’s heart! His tongue is like a poisoned dart, The coldest eyes and the lewdest hands…,” she clearly has a message for someone in the audience. Passions run high. There is murder brewing at Follymead.

Among the music students are Tossa Barber and her boyfriend, Dominic Felse. When tragedy strikes, Dominic privately enlists the aid of his father, Detective Inspector George Felse, to unravel the tangle of events.