Thea Osbourne is perhaps over-optimistic about the English summertime and her latest assignment in the Cotswolds - house-sitting for reptile breeder Harriet Young. For Thea soon finds a dark side to the characters she encounters there, indeed Harriet's beloved geckoes are not the only cold-blooded creatures at large... Yet again, the region's bucolic charms prove to be more than deceptive, and Thea is thrust once again into the heart of a Cotswolds mystery. For despite the ease with which Thea's new assignment in the secluded village of Cranham begins, she soon finds a dark side to the characters she encounters there. From the tragic Donny Davis to the enigmatic figure of Edwina, Thea begins to realize that Harriet Young's beloved geckoes are not the only cold-blooded creatures at large in Cranham. Family intrigues, murder, suicide and deception combine to give Thea a decidedly challenging summer in the Heart of England...