In 1920s England, former clergyman Dr Lawrence keeps his cannibal son locked in the attic after the young man is exposed to savage practices in India. When an auto race is held at the estate, Lawrence worries that his son may escape and terrorise the youth.

Amateur detective Miss Jane Marple investigates the murder of a young woman whose body is found in the library at Gossington Hall, home of Colonel and Mrs. Arthur Bantry.

Peter Carter, his wife Sally and their young daughter Jean move to a sleepy Canadian village, where Peter has been hired as a school principal. Their idyll is shattered when Jean becomes the victim of an elderly, and extremely powerful, paedophile. The film was neither a box office nor a critical success, it garnered criticism for breaking a significant public taboo.