First in the series of short Christmas novels by Anne Perry and this book features a very young Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould, who is a character in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series. At a Christmas house party, a young woman commits suicide and another young woman is blamed for the death and shunned by the rest of the company. She, along with Vespasia, set out for the Scottish Highlands to find the dead woman's mother, explain what happened, and bring her back for her daughter's funeral. Along the way, Vespasia uncovers the true meaning of friendship.