Pearl Nolan receives a wedding invitation from an old school friend. Journalist Amy has chosen somewhere very special for the wedding ceremony - the historic Kent manor house of Mount Ephraim - and the invite includes a pre-nuptial stay for Pearl and other guests at this venue. Nestled in an 800-acre estate, and surrounded by beautiful gardens and a lake, Pearl sees this break as a chance to leave crime behind, along with her own detective agency and her restaurant, The Whitstable Pearl.
Accepting the invitation, Pearl looks forward to meeting the happy couple's friends and family, as well as Amy's fiancé, Guy, a handsome and successful adventurer who appears to be Mr Perfect. She also has time to reflect on her own engagement to Canterbury CID detective, DCI Mike McGuire...
But before any wedding bells sound, murder strikes - and Pearl and McGuire are thrust together again - as partners in crime.