After three catastrophic housesitting commissions, filled with murder and intrigue, the Montgomery house in Blockley seems like a welcome break for fearless Thea and her trusty spaniel Hephzibah. The opportunity to explore the lost Cotswold villages, with only the minor hindrance of checking up on the client's mother, in the adjoining house, promises to be the perfect get away. But Granny Gladys Gardener, with her conveniently erratic memory and series of ailments that disappear as quickly as they arrive, is a force to be reckoned and is soon arousing Thea's suspicion. After all, why do the Montgomery's lock her connecting door to the house? And why do they set an alarm that goes off every time Granny goes out?

Thea's concerns, however, soon turn to something more sinister when the arrival of her daughter, trainee policewoman Jessica, prompts the discovery of a body. Slowly the secrets of Blockley begin to unravel themselves to the Osborne women, but nothing in the village is quite what it seems. Up against the clock to try and solve another murder, with the added complications of her elderly charge, her daughter's career troubles and her deepening relationship with DI Phil Hollis, Thea is beginning to feel well and truly lost in the Cotswolds.