It's Hop-tu-Naa time on the Isle of Man and Fenella Woods is excited to learn more about this uniquely Manx celebration. When a day of fun at Cregneash village ends with Fenella finding a dead body, though, she finds herself tangled up in another murder investigation.
When the inspector in charge of the case calls on Daniel Robinson to help with the investigation, Fenella finds an uncomfortable distance has grown between herself and handsome Inspector Robinson. The distance is only reinforced by the ubiquitous presence of Tiffany Perkins, a pretty young police inspector who'd been on the same course as Daniel.
No one seems to have had a motive for killing young Phillip Pierce. He'd only been on the island for a short while. He was newly married and his beautiful widow seems suitably devastated. 
Can Fenella work out why the man was killed? Will Daniel seek her help with this investigation or is he determined to keep her at arm's length? And if he is keeping his distance, is Tiffany the reason or is there something else going on?