'Two hours ago a young women died in the infirmary... she'd swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant. Burnt her inside out...' Arthur Birling, a prosperous manufacturer, is holding a family dinner party to celebrate his daughter's engagement. Into this cosy scene intrudes the harsh figure of a police inspector investigating the suicide of a young working-class woman. Under interrogation, every member of the family turns out to have a shameful secret which links them with her death. A GCSE GUIDE