Julia Lanchester, has left her father's show in protest over his quick remarriage after her mother's death. She is now working for the Fotheringill estate as a tourist information manager.

Shortly after q quick visit from her father, her new stepmother calls her in a panic. Julia's father has disappeared. He left his phone with a text started to Julia...the rhyme of the magpie. With that call, Julia will be drawn into a murder investigation.

Julia's life spirals out of control as she works with the man who has been hired to replace her on the show. Her car is stolen and someone locks her into her makeshift garage. Her relationship with Michael is torn between attraction and the urge to hit him for taking her place.

While searching for her father, Julia and Michael discover the body of a dead man. Kenneth Kersey was the communications director for a power company which intended to build a wind farm.

Rupert Lanchester was opposed to the wind farm and there had been some strife between him and the power company. Michael and Julia now have two reasons to search for her father.

Julia starts off as a somewhat unlikable character. Her dismay over her father's second marriage has caused her to lock her heart away. She has isolated herself from others. The investigation will force her to face her problems and make her realize that she can't do this alone. Her growing attraction to Michael and her concern over her father gradually changes her attitude.

As she and Michael grew closer, you could see her attitude change. She became a much more sympathetic character.

Ms. Wingate has written a tense, complicated mystery which gradually draws the reader in. Her characters are three dimensional with all the flaws and strengths exposed.