Set in the picturesque town of Askham, near Ullswater, the story opens withthe funeral of Humphrey Craig, the builder who converted Simmy's new housein Hartsop. The following day, when Simmy goes back to look at the grave andthe flowers on it, she meets two w omen, Lindsay Wilson, an academic in herlate twenties who is writing a thesis on Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, andPauline Parsons, a local matriarch aged 90. Just 24 hours later, Mrs Parsons isfound dead on Askham Fell and Simmy is summoned to Penrith police station.She is told that she has been identified as the prime suspect ... will DI Moxonbe able to help Simmy out of this unscathed?