North Yorkshire, 1930. Ever since the war, pubs have been in the doldrums, and in an attempt to promote and breathe new life back into the business, brewers select a charismatic employee as local queen to be the face of their industry. This year's queen, Ruth Parnaby, has invited Kate Shackleton to accompany her at a garden party thrown in her honor. But when Ruth leads children to the stables for pony rides, the drayman is missing, later found deceased. What looked to be a simple case of asphyxiation is quickly clarified as murder. Someone was looking to cover it up. The case is muddy, at best, and it's going to take Kate at her keenest to decipher the truth.-- Provided by publisher.