A stone's throw away from a glamorous engagement party, the police are pulling a body outof the river Thames.

The drowning appears to be a tragic accident - until Detective Caius Beauchamp gets an unexpected tip. The victim, it seems, had enemies in high places. Did being on the wrong side of them get her killed?

Meanwhile, the beautiful milliner Calliope Foster, immaculate in buttermilk linen, is toasting her dearest friend Harriet Simpson-Bamber in a Richmond garden.

They have a wedding to organise. But a dead body will unravel even the best-laid plans.