The House on the Quay

James Howard, a successful writer and a carefree sophisticate without close family ties, was not eager to desert his metropolitan haunts to journey to a small village on the Devon shore. But he did feel an obligation at least to visit his dead brother's three small children, who had been unexpectedly left in his charge; and he told himself that his stay at Evan's Quay would be mercifully brief.

However, he had not bargained for the mystery surrounding Ian's death in a boating accident and the unpleasant implications which it held; for the stubborn individuality of the children; for the presence of their temporary guardian and housekeeper, the disturbingly lovely Melanie; and for the surprise of a neighbor girl who was not quite the impulsive child she appeared to be.

As a result of all these factors, James' stay was rather longer and more complicated than he had anticipated.