Welcome to Whitby, home to two of the most remarkable women you'll ever meet. There's Brenda, who keeps herself to herself, quietly running her lovely, spick and span guest house - but who sometimes seems older than time itself. And then there's Effie: a bit of a law unto herself, really. They seem to be settling down nicely, but then a strange Mr Danby opens his curious beauty parlour, The Deadly Boutique, up Frances's Passage. And things there are most certainly not what they seem. Join the intrepid ladies as they discover why Jessie Sturgeon, the surly waitress at The Christmas Hotel, suddenly looks so vivacious - and whether Mr Danby's mysterious methods are any match for Brenda.