It's 1920, and Christmas is coming. Major Lennox finds a body on his doorstep - why on his doorstep? Was it to do with the Countess? Was it about the ruby necklace? Lennox goes to Melrose Court, home to his uncle, Lord Melrose, to uncover the mystery. But then, the murders begin, and it snows, and it all becomes very complicated.

Will, Viscount Wingrave, whiles away his time gambling and bedding married women, thwarted in his wish to serve his country by his controlling father. News that his errant son has fought a duel with a jealous husband is the last straw for the Earl of Marstone. He decrees that Will must marry. The earl's eye lights upon Connie Charters, unpaid housekeeper and drudge for a poor but socially ambitious father who cares only for the advantage her marriage could bring him. 

Hugh Philemon Ancaster, seventh Duke of Ripley, will never win prizes for virtue. But even he draws the line at running off with his best friend's bride. All he's trying to do is recapture the slightly inebriated Lady Olympia Hightower and return her to her intended bridegroom. For reasons that elude her, bookish, bespectacled Olympia is supposed to marry a gorgeous rake of a duke. The ton is flabbergasted. Her family's ecstatic. And Olympia? She's climbing out of a window, bent on a getaway.

Wales, 1817. After refusing every offer of marriage that comes her way, Isolde Farrington is packed off to a spinster aunt in Wales until she comes to her senses. Rhys Williams, there on business, is turning over his uncle’s choice of bride for him. The last thing he needs is to fall for an impertinent miss like Izzy, who takes Rhys for a yokel. Izzy’s new surroundings make her look at life, and Rhys, afresh.

After a mysterious sojourn in Paris, Beryl Burnham has returned home to the village of Shepton Worthy, ready to resume the life she left behind. Betrothed to the wealthy Sir Henry Rivenhall, she has no reason to be unhappy or so people keep reminding her. But Beryl's life isn't as perfect as everyone believes.