Ellie Quicke is shocked when her daughter, Diana, turns up at her door with a suitcase in tow. Bunny Brewster has died of an overdose, and Diana's husband, Evan, is convinced that she is responsible for his friend's death. It seems that Diana and four other neglected wives of Evan's friends recently joked about ways to kill their husbands. Diana's suggested method of murder involved muddling up pills – could this be how Bunny died? All five women are soon causing havoc at Ellie's house, but a further distressing development confirms Ellie's instinct that there's more to this than meets the eye.
Bea Abbot's plans are disrupted by the unexpected arrival of one of her clients, bearing a brown leather briefcase full of expensive jewellery. Magda Summerleys has been working as a housekeeper for wealthy art expert Lucas Rycroft who, she says, entrusted her with the briefcase for safekeeping – and who seems to have disappeared without trace. Drawn into the tangled affairs of the dysfunctional Rycrofts, Bea soon discovers that other members of the family are determined to get their hands on the jewels – by whatever means necessary. Also caught up in the chaos is her ex-husband Piers, who had been commissioned to paint Lucas Rycroft's portrait. Then a body is discovered at Lucas's home…
Ellie Quicke believes in helping people in trouble. But it would appear that her latest good deed has returned to bite her when she takes in a weeping girl who needs somewhere to stay. Selfish, thoughtless and irresponsible, Angelica is by no means the easiest of house guests, confident that someone else will always pick up the bill. But when a dead body is found in the garden the morning after a riotous party she's organised, Angelica plunges Ellie's household into a situation too hot for any of them to handle. Ellie does not believe Angelica is capable of murder. However, when she attempts to uncover the truth about what happened that night, Ellie unearths a series of disturbing revelations.
Attending a birthday celebration for two young girls, Bea Abbot tries not to let superstition get the better of her when she realises they are 13 at dinner. What she doesn't anticipate is that the evening will end in sudden, violent death. Suddenly a dining room curtain goes up in flames. While two members of the host family are rushed to hospital, Bea and a fellow guest search for the birthday girls in a house which has been plunged into darkness. Could the fire have been started deliberately – and were young Bernice and Alicia the intended targets? As Bea investigates, she finds herself drawn into the girls' troubling world: a world rich in money, but lacking in love.
Poppy's wealthy father hadn't liked the look of the men whom his twin daughters intended to marry, and had set them up in The Magpie fashion boutique to ensure they would be able to support themselves; at the same time ensuring that the girls made a will in one another's favour. The business prospered and expanded until, many years later, skeletons start to come out of the closet. Bodies too. And Ellie's enquiries uncover a hornet's nest of greed and malice combined with tragic secrets.
