Lady Julia, who is an amateur detective, accompanies her sister Portia to help a friend, Jane, a pregnant widow, whose husband died under suspicious circumstances and Portia believes Jane's life may be in danger. Lady Julia who recently got married to a private enquiry agent, Nicholas Brisbane, accompanies her sister Portia to India to help her lover Jane. Jane had married Freddie Cavendish, who had recently inherited a tea plantation in Darjeeling, India. Freddie died due to an infection after a snake bite but Portia thinks he might have been murdered for the control of the plantation. Jane is pregnant and Portia believes she might be in danger. Julia agrees to help her out and they both decide to tell Brisbane the truth once they reach Calcutta. Brisbane refuses to help them out as he believes Portia was trying to manipulate him. The ladies leave for Darjeeling with their brother Plum and are received by the Cavendish family at the Peacock Palace. Things take a turn for the worse when Julia realizes they were lived next to the cousins they thought they'd never see again, Emily and Lucy. Lady Julia meets the reverend Pennyfeathers and his wife, Cassandra, with their children, Robin and Primrose and their governess, Miss Thorne. Cassandra is a photographer and offers to photograph Julia and Portia and they reluctantly accept. She also meets the mysterious White Raja who travelled all around the world before deciding to make India his home. He offers to provide Lady Julia with all the gossip and information. She also learns that a Tiger as dark as night hunts the people of the nearby village and has recently killed the local doctors wife. Lady Julia encounters a beggar who predicts darkness in Lady Julia's future. She stumbles upon a secretive meeting between the two Cavendish family members, Miss Cavendish and Mr. Harry where they seem scared to lose control of the plantation. Lady Julia realizes they have great motives to kill Freddie Cavendish and cause harm to Jane and her baby. When Brisbane arrives she visits her two cousins, Emily and Lucy and finds out that Emily is dying and Lucy is having a clandestine affair and she also meets Miss Thornes twin sister. Lady Julia suspects Harry is the man Lucy is having an affair with. As Lady Julia further investigates Freddie Cavendish's death she realizes someone had exchanged his clean bandages with dirty bandages and the doctor was so inebriated (grieving his dead wife) he had not realized what he was doing. During a local festival the tiger attacks Lady Julia, who is saved by Brisbane under the disguise of the old beggar lady (who predicted a dark future for Lady Julia). Lady Julia gets really upset when she finds out Brisbane had been investigating on his own letting Lady Julia believe she was solving this case on her own. After they sort out their differences Lady Julia goes back to finding Freddie Cavendish's murderer. She goes through Harry's accounts and finds out that Freddie's grandfather had made several payments to Miss Thorne and her sister. She is surprised to find out that Miss Thorne and her sister were the illegitimate children of Freddie's grandfather. Harry and Miss Cavendish had been scared that they might lose control of Tea Plantation to them. When Brisbane and Lady Julia fight again he takes her to the white Raja's place and tells her that the White Raja is his father and that he is a conman who allows young men to gamble in his place and scares them witless if they fail to pay up. He tells them that Freddie Cavendish had given him compromising pictures of Primrose, Reverends daughter, taken by Cassandra that could be used for blackmail. They find out Freddie had fooled Robin in to revealing the pictures to him and Freddie had then stolen the pictures. Robin who felt betrayed by his friend had then changed his bandages with the dirty ones to get even with him. Before they could get hold of Robin they found out that robin and Reverend had drowned in the river. Lady Julia gets a letter left for her by reverend who tells him that he drowned his son and then himself as e blamed himself for his son's sins. Jane gives birth to a baby girl but dies due to blood loss. Brisbane offers to make Lady Julia his partner but only after a strict training under him. Portia adopts the baby girl and they all leave for London.
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Best part of story, including ending:
I really enjoyed the setting and description in this book.
Best scene in story:
I particularly enjoyed the scene where Lady Julia is attacked by a tiger and Nicholas Brisbane, who is there under a disguise of an old beggar lady, saves her life and when lady Julia she tells him she will divorce him as soon as she can.
Opinion about the main character:
I like Lady Julia's persistence even when her husband refuses to share any intel with her or help her find the killer.
