Ariel Shepard has spent the last year renovating her beautiful French ch�teau, while also ingratiating herself into the lives and hearts of the quirky locals of Noyers-sur-Serein. The shocking business of the murder of the local historian is behind her and she is finally feeling at home.

However, it's not long before murder and mystery once again seek Ariel out, when she and her friend Katherine find the body of the elderly Madame Toussaint in the doorway of Katherine's flea market shop.

Who would want to harm this lonely soul? Where is the bag the woman never leaves home without? And more importantly, where is her loyal, loving dog who never leaves her side? Could Raoul, Ariel's stoic gardener, really have something to do with it? And could Madame Toussaint have been mixed up with the robberies increasing around the idyllic villages of France?

Despite warnings from the rather handsome Brigadier Allard, Ariel, with help from Katherine and Pippa, once again dons her sleuthing hat . . .