Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is running a small hotel on a Greek island. The Trehearnes come to stay and tell a story about a murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married, which fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts. One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim --- an advertising executive named Frank Parris --- and based the third book in his detective series on that very crime. The Trehearnes’ daughter, Cecily, believes that the book proves the man convicted of Parris’ murder is innocent. When the Trehearnes reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must find out what really happened.