When the murdered body of a woman is found floating in flooded uplands near an isolated farm and nearby cottage, identification proves impossible and the press and police dub her the 'Mystery Woman'. No progress is made in the case until a second murder takes place - the bursar of a public school, currently involved in a controversy over a proposed entrance to the school, is found murdered at his desk. Temporarily unemployed ex-student, Celo Atkins, who will do anything to avoid taking the secretarial job her mothers arranged for her, also comes across evidence from a totally unexpected source, and ultimately finds herself involved in the investigation. Her help along with the investigation into the death of the bursar enables DS Gil mayo and his assistant, Abigail Moon, to uncover a trail that eventually leads to the true identity of the Mystery Woman and to the unexpected solution of the two seemingly unrelated murders.