Misery Castle - the name of the cottage hardly conjures a cosy existence. Yet Eva Strode lives there happily with her housekeeper Mrs Merry. Now, however, Eva waits anxiously for the arrival of her father, who has sent word of his imminent return from South Africa after five years hunting for diamonds - an arrival that threatens not only the tranquillity of Eva's existence, but also her love affair with the son of a local scholar. When her father fails to arrive, however, Eva receives a vision that he has met a violent end - a vision that is confirmed when a body is found at a spring known as the Red Deeps. But who could have wanted Strode dead? And why would the killer steal the victim's false hand?