Basil Palmer plans to murder a man called Louis Carson. The problem is he doesn't know anything about his intended victim, not who he is nor where he lives.

Basil Palmer plans to murder a man called Louis Carson. The problem is he doesn't know anything about his intended victim, not who he is nor where he lives.

After learning that Carson runs a hotel in Hemlock Bay, a playground for the wealthy and privileged, Palmer invents a false identity. Posing as Dr Seamus Doyle, he journeys to the coast plotting murder along the way.

Meanwhile, after hearing a fortune teller has predicted a murder in a place called Hemlock Bay, amateur sleuth Rachel Savernake rents a cottage there, determined to discover for herself the serpent that has slithered into this idyllic Eden.

Murder does occur at the resort, and after meeting a mysterious doctor called Seamus Doyle, Rachel finds herself entering a maze of intricate mysteries - just where she likes to be…