Wimsey is on holiday in a Scottish fishing village when Sandy Campbell, a boorish artist, is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, with the appearance that he committed suicide. Curiously, someone impersonated Campbell, making it appear that he died later than he did. Wimsey sets himself to find a murderer. Six of Campbell's fellow artists, including Wimsey's friend Waters, have a motive for killing the painter, and they are the suspects. However, all six have alibis outside the village for the time of Campbell's death, so Wimsey has to break one of the six alibis. Five of the men are red herrings, while the sixth is a fiendishly clever killer
A missing tube of white paint convinces Lord Peter that Campbell was murdered. He discovers that there are six suspects, all artists, who have no real alibis for the night of the murder.
Lord Peter works out that the murder victim was involved in a fight, shortly before his demise. Unfortunately, all the suspects seem to have hurt themselves in different ways that night. And did the housemaid just imagine seeing a strange creature in Strachan's house?
Now that all the suspects have been located and interrogated, Lord Peter decides to recreate the crime to show the inspector what he thinks may have happened.
Ian Carmichael discusses his portrayal of Lord Peter Wimsey and especially the making of Five Red Herrings.
