Loveday's boss, magazine publisher Merrick Tremayne, has married his housekeeper, Connie Bishop, in Truro Cathedral. But celebrations in an exclusive country house hotel come to an abrupt end when a woman is found murdered in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Loveday's partner, Detective Inspector Sam Kitto, takes charge of the investigation. No one is allowed to leave the hotel. The situation is sensitive, but until his officers must interview everyone...even his friends are suspects.

As the hunt to find a killer spreads across Cornwall more distress is in store for the Tremayne family. Marietta Olsen, girlfriend of Merrick's half-bother, Cadan, has disappeared. Has she really taken herself off to a retreat as her parents maintain...or is something more sinister going on?