The sudden, unexplained death of Hugo Crawford forces his sister, Sybil, to confront the limits of reality as she seeks answers through the unconventional practice of spiritualism. Sybil, a composed headmistress, finds herself drawn into a circle of grieving individuals, including an actress and a war widow, who share a desperate need to communicate with the deceased. As they engage in paranormal experiments, they navigate a world where the boundaries between genuine grief and charlatanism blur. The narrative follows their collective attempt to pierce the veil of death, testing their logical constraints against the unsettling atmosphere of the seance room.

Readers and critics frequently note the author's ability to balance sharp, comic observation with the somber reality of loss. Discussion often centers on the effectiveness of the plot's construction, specifically how the narrative utilizes false trails to maintain suspense throughout the investigation. Many highlight the author's skill in portraying the vulnerability of the characters as they engage in increasingly bizarre experiments. The work is often cited for its precise prose and its refusal to offer easy answers regarding the validity of the paranormal experiences described. The balance between character-driven drama and the mystery of the central death remains a primary point of interest for those analyzing the text.