To celebrate her fortieth birthday in 1936, Josephine Tey, along with her good friend Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Archie Penrose, goes to the fairytale-like Welsh resort of Portmeirion at the same time Alfred Hitchcock and his film company are there. Here Tey meets Alma Reville, Hitch’s wife, and agrees to the filming of her novel A Shilling for Candles. But sunny Portmeirion turns dark, even gothic, as the tangle of blood and emotional relationships between characters leads to the murders of two women.