Summer has come to the Lake District town of Windermere, where Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown runs her own florist shop. But with the shop struggling for money, a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in Hawkshead couldn't be more welcome. However, Simmy's association with the hotel soon turns sinister when she finds a body in the lake.

To make matters worse, her friend, Ben - responsible for alerting her to the discovered body - is now missing and thought to be kidnapped. Caught up in both a murder and kidnapping investigation, Simmy begins chasing clues left by her missing friend.

With many suspicious characters bustling in and out of the hotel, while simultaneously trying to cope with her father's encroaching dementia, solving the puzzle seems a gruelling challenge, but Simmy is compelled to uncover the truth . . .