Lois Meade has done enough buffing and polishing over the years with her cleaning business, New Brooms, to know that all that glitters is not gold. So when a bag of costume jewellery is the main clue in a murder, she has a strong suspicion that appearances may be deceiving... After a woman is discovered in the Mill House Hotel, strangled with a silver necklace beside a bag filled with faux silver, gold and pearls, costume jewelry dealer Donald Black seems like the obvious suspect. But Lois knows Donald's wife, who runs a baker's shop near the hotel, and can't believe her husband could be a killer. Plus, Donald has an airtight alibi.Nevertheless, Donald is no angel. It appears he's running a pyramid scheme, and Lois's mother is getting sucked in. Could the murder have anything to do with his unscrupulous business practices?As Inspector Cowgill and Lois hope the bling may shine a light on the killer, the discovery of a second body on the old waterwheel in the hotel may be grist for the mill in solving the murder - if they can manage to catch the culprit without getting the runaround.