Tim Kinnit, an adopted child, is about to get married when his belief about his past (that he was a by-blow of the wealthy family who adopted him) is overturned, and the need to know who he is overwhelms romantic interest. [I note, though, that he was perfectly fine not knowing anything about his real mother, but discovering that he wasn't related to the man who he thought was his father knocks him for six.]This is a story about class. Is Tim from the gutter? Are the Kinnits too impossibly condescending? Does nature overcome nurture? Does it matter what your blood is, or your personality?Allingham doesn't really answer these questions, merely pokes them a little. It's a good mystery, but I don't really like this story, particularly because of something related to Charlie Luke, but also because I really disliked the older Kinnits.
