When the kind, shy baronet Sir Charles Fraith receives a letter from Jessica Tartinck, president of the Dembley Walkers Association, his tranquil life is thrown into chaos. Feisty and determined, Ms. Tartinck, as part of her campaign against landowners over the use of public footpaths, has chosen the naive baronet for her latest attack. Although Sir Charles suggests a reasonable offer to counter her outrageous demands, Jessica chooses to ignore him.
Jessica's protest march turns into a death march when she ends up murdered in Sir Charles's field. Wooed by the chance to mix with the landed gentry, Agatha is only too willing to try to help clear Sir Charles's name, especially since it means playing the "wife" of her attractive and elusive neighbor James Lacey.
As the sometimes pushy, sometimes endearing heroine of M. C. Beaton's Cotswold mystery series once again joins forces with James to solve a murder and attempt to capture the gold ring, Agatha Raisin continues to build her reputation as a thoroughly modern Miss Marple.