Life had never been the same at Latter End since Lois had taken over. Suddenly life seemed to be an endless succession of bitter family rows - which Lois needless to say invariably won. If anyone ever murdered Lois - there would be many suspects.
In Venice, Frances Croy is working to leave the previous year behind: another novel published to little success, a scathing review she can't quite manage to forget, and, most of all, the real reason behind her self-imposed exile from London: the incident at the Savoy. Sequestered within an aging palazzo, Frankie finds comfort in the emptiness of Venice in winter, in the absence of others. And then Gilly appears.