Winter has arrived in the town of Windermere, and has bought with it the death of Frances Henderson, the best friend of Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown's mother. Simmy must cope with the loss of an important figure from her childhood, as well as the confusion at being bequeathed something in Frances's will. When Frances's husband is violently murdered, Simmy must face the fact that the family she was once so close to as a child, holds some dark secrets. Keen to keep out of the investigation, Simmy must not only face these personal dilemmas, but deal with Ben Harkness and Bonnie Lawson's enthusiasm for solving crimes, as well as her father's worsening dementia, and her own mother's grief for her best friend.