When romance writer and leading do-gooder Fleur Saville disappears, her husband Edwin, fearing she has left him for another man, lets it be known that she is working at their holiday cottage, even though it's midwinter. But a thaw uncovers her body in an isolated spot just out of town. Investigating the crime, detective chief inspector Mayo finds that Fleur was not very much loved, even by her putative best friends; she was determined to be the center of attention and to take over any project. Suspects include the husband with whom she had quarreled bitterly the day she disappeared; her stepson, Michael, who hated her, and Bryan Challis, successful businessman, husband of one of Fleur's oldest friends and possibly her lover. As Mayo doggedly follows clues from past and present, he uncovers the secret that led to murder.