It's springtime and Whitstable is emerging from hibernation. Pearl’s best friend, Nathan, has persuaded one of his favourite actresses to open the May Day festivities at Whitstable Castle and involves Pearl in his plans. Faye Marlowe is a Whitstable native, but having left the town more than two decades ago, the star has been living in the South of France since her agent's phone stopped ringing. Charming but 'sensitive', she arrives with a small entourage. Though her presence in the town causes a stir, Pearl's mother Dolly remains unimpressed, choosing to remember Faye Marlow when she was plain old Frankie Murray, the daughter of a local whelk merchant. Nathan soon realises he has made a mistake with this invitation and his doubts are confirmed when Faye is nowhere to be found on the morning of May Day. The actress's dead body is discovered – tethered to the maypole on the Castle grounds ... and so it's left to Pearl and DCI Mike McGuire to unravel the mystery of the May Day murder.