A wedding is always a happy occasion, even if Lois Meade must remind herself she isn't losing a daughter, but gaining a policeman. Luckily, her new son-in-law is in the Tresham force, and is the nephew of her friend and collaborator Inspector Cowgill. So, Lois looks forward to having another link to the law at her disposal. But sleuthing suddenly seems a little too close to home when her youngest son invites a mysterious young woman, Akiko, as a guest. Lois isn't the only one who wonders why she refuses to talk about herself or her past. And when a thief waltzes off in the night with the young woman's cello, Lois enlists the inspector to help find the valuable instrument. Before Lois can find the vanishing cello, Akiko goes missing. The discovery that this could be another in a string of murderous musical thefts means Lois must pull out all the stops to find the girl and protect her son, before the music stops permanently.