Margaret Woods is excited to be starting her new job on the Isle of Man. She's staying in her Aunt Fenella's luxury apartment on the promenade, and her new boyfriend, Ted Hart, isn't far away. Living with a ghost is a bit unusual, but Margaret is confident that she'll get used to Mona's presence eventually..

While she's busy getting settled, Ted is working on a murder investigation. The skeleton that turned up on one of the island's farms had been buried for twenty years. Mona is eager to get involved in the investigation, even if Margaret would rather stay out of it..

As if that isn't enough for Margaret to worry about, her next-door neighbor, Elaine, is concerned about a missing friend. She and Ernie have only known each other for a few weeks, but his sudden disappearance could mean that something terrible has happened to the retired man..

Fenella has only been gone on her honeymoon for a few days and Margaret is already caught in the middle of a murder investigation and a missing person case. Life on the Isle of Man isn't at all what Margaret had been expecting.

Margaret is starting to feel more at home on the island. She's settling into her job and making new friends. Her relationship with Ted seems to be going well, too. When one of her friends has his car stolen, though, everyone she knows wants to talk about the theft.

Everyone except Ted, who is actually investigating the case. He's more interested in a friend's ten-year-old cold case, though. The friend, a US police detective, can't share official police reports with Ted, but the murder took place in a small town and the local paper interviewed everyone involved. Ted and Margaret learn a lot from reading those interviews online. And Margaret can't resist mentioning the case to her work colleagues.

It isn't long before everyone Margaret knows has an opinion on the cold case. Mona is especially interested, and especially opinionated. And as if Margaret didn't have enough to keep her busy, Katie, Aunt Fenella's cat, starts causing trouble, too.

When Margaret Woods is woken out of a deep sleep by the sound of a fire alarm, she has no idea that an arsonist has struck in her apartment building. It isn't long, though, before the entire island is talking about the fire and who might have been behind it.

Meanwhile, Ted is working on another cold case. This time, though, there's a connection to the island. Joel Ward died in Canada thirty-five years ago, but he'd had a house on the island, and many of the suspects in the investigation still live there.

Margaret finds herself tangled up in two more investigations. Mona seems to be doing her best to make sure that Margaret meets every suspect in both cases. Meanwhile, Margaret is busy at her new job, and increasingly worried about her sister, Megan.

Margaret greatly enjoys a day out with her boyfriend, Ted, his friend Mark Hammersmith, and Mark's new girlfriend, Ashley. After a brisk hike and a picnic on the beach, they start the walk back to their cars to head for home. As Margaret and Ted hike through some rows of trees, though, they stumble across a dead body.

Ted is a police inspector, and it doesn't take him long to realize that the dead man was murdered. Worryingly, the man also has a personal connection to Ashley. Margaret finds herself caught up in another murder investigation, this time one uncomfortably close to home.

While Mona's interference sometimes annoys Margaret, this time she's eager to help Ted find the killer. Mona doesn't need much encouragement to do everything she can to make sure that Margaret gets to talk to every possible suspect. Margaret just has to hope that each conversation will get her closer to helping Ted solve the case.

Margaret and Ted are excited to be taking a vacation together. Margaret has always wanted to see the sights the United Kingdom has to offer. They leave the island, planning for two weeks of adventure together. York is their first stop. In addition to enjoying their time in the historic city, Ted has a friend living there that they plan to see on their visit.

James Long is a police inspector in York. He's happy to see his friend, Ted, in part because he has a cold case he wants to discuss with another inspector. Margaret is happy to listen in while they talk about the case. And Mona somehow manages to hear all about the case as well.

While Margaret and Ted explore the city, they also revisit a few of the key locations from the cold case. And whether it's Mona's interference or just luck, they also find themselves bumping into some of the case's suspects.

They're only supposed to be in York for a week. Margaret wants to see all of the sights, but the more she learns about the death of Douglas Sims, the more she wants to help James and Ted find his killer before she and Ted move on to their next location.

Ted and Margaret leave York with plans to spend a week traveling along the path of Hadrian's Wall. Margaret is excited about the opportunity to learn more about Roman Britain. And she's enjoying traveling with Ted. When an aggressive motorist cuts them off at a gas station, they both just brush off the encounter and put it out of their heads.

Their first stop is Fairleads Fort and Museum. The fort was started, but never finished, and the museum holds only a small number of Roman finds. They're both surprised to see the car that cut them off earlier parked in the corner of the fort's parking lot, but there's no sign of the driver.

After their tour, the site's manager walks them back to their car. When he spots the other car in the lot, he's furious. Parking in that lot is supposed to be for fort and museum visitors only. He storms over to confront the driver, but instead finds the man dead behind the steering wheel. When the small village's only police inspector learns that Ted is also an inspector, she's quick to ask him to stay in the area for a few days as a sort of unofficial helper. That leaves Margaret eager to find the killer so that she and Ted can continue with their vacation.

Margaret is delighted that her sister, Megan, is coming to visit the Isle of Man where Margaret has been living for several months now. She's less excited that Megan will be accompanied by her boyfriend, Carter, and several of his friends from New York City, people that Megan barely knows. Both sisters are looking forward to two weeks of sightseeing around the island with Carter and his friends.

Tensions start to build almost immediately, though, when the group bumps into one of Carter's former girlfriends who is currently living on the island. Megan is shocked to find out that Carter has other friends living there as well.

After Megan and Carter have an unfortunate disagreement, Carter ends up spending the night on the couch on their first night on the island. When everyone heads out to go sightseeing the next morning, Carter opts to stay behind to try to catch up on the sleep he lost on the uncomfortable living-room furniture.

When the group returns to the cottage, Megan finds Carter's body in the bathroom. It isn't long before the two sisters start to realize that Carter had lied to Megan about many things. And his lies give just about everyone who knew him a motive for his murder. Margaret and Mona have a lot of work to do if they're going to find Carter's killer before his friends all leave the island in this seventh book in the series.

[Released on 6th April 2026 and available for pre-order now.]