Fanny Lynam's cocktail party is awkward to arrange. Her old friend Clare is not eager to come, the ill-tempered Tom is sure to quarrel with whomever he can, and Fanny is nervous about meeting the young widow, Laura Greenslade, who has just become engaged to her half-brother, Kit. Anxious to impress, Fanny prepares her specialty of lobster patties for the guests, but when one of them dies in the night, accusations of murder abound, and her quaint little village is peaceful no more.