When James Harrington, owner of the historic Lakeview Hotel, is found dead at his desk during peak tourist season, local police dismiss it as a heart attack. But Stone's childhood memories of the old Crown Hotel—as it was known then—alert him to inconsistencies others miss. The victim's reading glasses are too neatly folded, an unsent email reveals growing concern about his business partner's ambitious redevelopment plans, and a bruise hidden beneath his collar tells a more sinister story.

As Stone delves deeper, the hotel's divided staff, the village's conflicting desires for progress and preservation, and a decades-old feud between the Harrington and Webb families emerge as fault lines in a community under pressure. His metropolitan police techniques, combined with local knowledge, uncover a murder plot designed to remove the final obstacle to a transformative lakefront development.

With his sergeant, Amy Fletcher, providing methodical support and Dr. Helen Morrison offering both medical expertise and personal connection, Stone navigates a landscape where the past and future collide dangerously. Hidden passages within the old hotel hold not only the route of a calculated murder but also the key to understanding what truly matters to this Lake District community—and to Stone himself.