When private investigator Mavis MacDonald grudgingly allows Dowager Duchess Althea Twyst to accompany her to investigate some puzzling problems at a picturesque hotel near the Welsh coastal town of Tenby, they find themselves facing an unexpected death, a group of quirky residents...and danger.
Meanwhile, Annie Parker tries to find out where a garden gnome has got to in the bucolic Welsh village of Anwen-by-Wye, and Carol Hill and Christine Wilson-Smythe help the duke and duchess work out who's behind some spiteful shenanigans...which are leading to chaos in the kitchens of Chellingworth Hall.
There are problems enough to keep all the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency busy, and a surprising blast of late-summer heat isn't helping anyone to keep their cool.