Diana Porteous

In a huge old house, full of precious paintings, Thomas Porteous is dying. As his much younger wife Di mourns, she knows that soon, despite her being his sole inheritor, Thomas's relatives will descend on the collection. After all, she met Thomas when she came to his house to rob him. With the help of an unlikely collection of loners and eccentrics, she sets a trap to hoist the family members on their own greed.

After her husband's death, young widow and art collector Diana Porteous plans to rediscover her talents as a thief, as well as art expert, to recover stolen paintings. She begins with Steven, her neighbour's son, who is amassing works of art in London, including work stolen from his mother. But if Di is interested in his illicit treasures, he is equally fascinated by hers - and in the secrets still held in her house by the sea...

Young widow Diana Porteous has inherited a vast collection of paintings, but she feels without purpose. Then her beloved stepgrandson comes up with the idea for an exhibition of portraits with the title 'A Question of Guilt'. It starts as a joke, but soon they are preparing the huge wine cellar of the old schoolhouse by the sea, in spite of those with misgivings as to its suitability.