Thea Osborne agrees to do a second spell of house-sitting for Lucy Sinclair in her new home in Northleach. Lucy is scheduled for an operation on her back in Oxford and needs Thea to look after things for a few days. Thea is glad of the change of scene and soon meets several of the townsfolk and it appears that few of them have any liking for Lucy. When a man is found dead in a Northleach house and turns out to be Lucy's stepson Thea is once again at the very heart of a police investigation.

Part of the The Thea Osborne Series series.