Pearl Nolan always wanted to be a detective but life, and a teenage pregnancy, got in the way of a police career and instead she built up a successful seafood restaurant in her coastal home town of Whitstable – famous for its native oysters. Now, at 39, and with son Charlie away at university, Pearl finds herself suffering from empty nest syndrome ... until she discovers the drowned body of local oyster fisherman Vinnie Rowe, weighted down with an anchor chain, on the eve of Whitstable's annual oyster festival. Is it a tragic accident, suicide – or murder?

The festive month is kicking off in style and Pearl is rushed off her feet. She's busy running her restaurant, planning a family Christmas and providing mulled wine for the church fundraiser when Christmas cards begin arriving all over town – filled with spiteful messages from an anonymous writer. Having pledged not to take on a case before Christmas, Pearl reluctantly agrees that DCI Mike McGuire should take over; poisoned pen cards are after all a matter for the police. With only the church fundraiser between Pearl and Christmas, she invites McGuire along as her guest.

While neither the restaurant nor detective agency is too busy, Pearl resolves to spend some time at the family allotment. But her best friend, Nathan, has persuaded one of his favourite actresses to open the May Day festivities at Whitstable Castle and involves Pearl in his plans. Nathan soon realises he has made a mistake with this invitation and his doubts are confirmed when Faye is nowhere to be found on the morning of May Day. And as 'Jack in the Green' puts on his costume to lead the parade, the actress's body is discovered – tethered to the maypole on the castle grounds.

Pearl receives a surprise present from her mother, Dolly – an early summer break at a riverside manor house that has been recently transformed into an exclusive hotel – the newly named Villa Pellegrini. Pearl doesn't welcome instruction on cookery, and certainly not from an arrogant chef like Caruso. She even begins to enjoy Caruso's attentions until one of the guests goes missing and it becomes clear that murder is on the menu.

Christina Scott confides that seven years ago she had the perfect life with a seaside home, a confirmed pregnancy and Steven, a loving husband – until one morning she woke to find herself alone. Christina's husband had vanished, taking nothing with him but his car – which was later found abandoned at the beautifully mysterious Oare Marshes. Now, with the legal presumption of Steven's death about to be made, Christina shows a photograph to Pearl. It's not of him, but of her young son, Martin, who has grown up without his father but Christina is adamant he now deserves to know the truth.

Pearl's detective agency must take a back seat during the local arts festival, where Pearl is due to welcome some very special visitors from Borken – Whitstable's twin town in Germany. At the festival, however, personality clashes soon surface: politicians try to turn the celebration to their own ends while others jostle for improved billing on the program. Tempers flare, old feuds resurface and on the eve of the first event, a cryptic message – Murder Fest – is received by the local police.

A controversial new property development is planned in Whitstable which will encroach upon the green open space of the downs, to the dismay of Whitstable residents. A campaign springs into life, spearheaded by a friend of Pearl's family, Martha Laker. Tensions escalate between the developers and Whitstable residents, straining Pearl's close relationship with London-born police officer, DCI Mike McGuire.

It really is murder on the dance floor.... A new dance school opens in Whitstable run by celebrity tango champions – Tony and Tanya Ballard. Pearl Nolan knows herself to be an ace cook and a sharp private eye but has always left the dancing to her mother, Dolly, a former member of the town's infamous Fish Slappers dance troupe. But Pearl becomes intrigued by the Ballards when they visit The Whitstable Pearl restaurant, and she realises that dance classes could provide the perfect cover for her clandestine relationship with DCI Mike McGuire....

Pearl Nolan receives a wedding invitation from an old school friend she hasn't seen for years. Amy, a journalist, has chosen somewhere very special for her wedding ceremony—the 17th-century Kent country house of Mount Ephraim—and the invite includes a pre-nuptial stay for Pearl and other guests at this historic venue. Nestled in an 800-acre estate, and surrounded by beautiful gardens and a lake, Pearl sees this break as a chance to leave crime behind, along with her own detective agency and her restaurant, The Whitstable Pearl.

Pearl Nolan's coastal allotment has always been a quiet haven – somewhere for her to relax and cultivate special ingredients for her restaurant, The Whitstable Pearl. But a sudden clamour for allotments by the DFLs – Down From Londoners – causes tension in the local community when the council decides to accommodate them by dividing existing plots into smaller parcels. When anonymous complaints are submitted to the council about each of the local allotment holders, Pearl's services as private detective are called upon.

For almost two centuries, St Alfred's Church in Whitstable, Kent, has held special significance in the lives of its parishioners – including for private detective, Pearl Nolan, owner of the Whitstable Pearl restaurant. Pearl's son, Charlie, was christened in the church and her oyster fisherman father, Tommy Nolan, is buried in the old churchyard. Now, St Alfred's is about to play another part in Pearl's life as the setting for her wedding to Canterbury police detective, DCI Mike McGuire.