Christmas is coming to the picturesque Cotswold countryside, and the days are merry and bright at the Slocombe house. Thea’s daughter Jessica has come to stay, much to her stepdaughter Stephanie’s delight, and the family are looking forward to the festivities. But things soon take a turn for the worse.

A local family, the Frowses, find themselves increasingly harassed by an aggressive landlord and his overbearing new wife. When Beverley Frowse suddenly goes missing without a trace, Thea and Stephanie both feel they should help to investigate her disappearance, if only to ease the growing concern of Beverley’s son, and Thea’s friend, Ant.

Christmas Day arrives, with all the traditional trimmings and general goodwill, despite Thea’s barely suppressed hankering to be involved in events at the Frowses’ house, where a dead man has just been discovered nearby …