When a travelling puppet show arrives in the village of Bishop's Lacey, eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, sensing tension between domineering puppeteer Rupert Porson and his assistant Nialla, begins to sniff out the beginnings of a mystery worth pursuing. During a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk in the village hall, the audience is treated to an unexpected finale - a shocking death that echoes a tragedy that occurred in Bishop's Lacey many years before - and Flavia is thrilled to find herself with a front row seat in a murder investigation.