Plot Summary:Barnaby accompanies Joyce to Swaveley Manor health spa,run by fussy Luke Archbold and his wife Phoebe.Luke is in a right of way dispute with Phoebe's former best friend,Miranda Bedford,who has written a novel,and her volatile handyman Carter Smith. Demanding guest Kitty Pottinger is found drowned in the flotation chamber and soon afterwards Luke is killed by a faulty weights machine. The spa faces closure and evidence points to Carter having killed Luke,though Barnaby believes he was framed. Kitty's husband Kenny disappears but is found,having survived an attempt on his life. Before Barnaby retires,handing over to his cousin John,he has exposed a fake medium and discovered that the killer had dual motives - hatred for the Pottingers and a need to stop Miranda 's book being published - both instances being fit for murder.
Barnaby accompanies Joyce on a spa weekend to Swavely Manor. But as he attempts to de-stress, a woman is found dead in the floatation chamber. Abandoning the treatments to investigate, Barnaby uncovers a feud between neighbours, money wrangles and the mystery of a half-written novel. Then there's another death. But his personal worries are never far from the surface.