One gives up the ghost - and Flavia is investigating again! Flavia finally returns from her boarding school in Canada to Buckshaw, only to learn that her father is in the hospital and cannot receive visitors. To escape her malicious sisters, Flavia hops on her bicycle: she is to deliver a message from the vicar's wife to the reclusive woodcarver Mr. Sambridge. But no one answers the door. Curious, Flavia enters the cabin and is surprised to find a stack of children's books in the home of the gruff bachelor. And another unexpected discovery awaits Flavia - for hanging upside down on the bedroom door is the dead Mr. Sambridge...