Plump Mrs. Pargeter accompanies her friend to a "fat farm" but with no intentions of losing weight. Instead, she enjoys the attentions of its owner, not to mention the full talents of the resort's gourmet chef. Quite accidentally, she stumbles upon the corpse of a young woman who seemingly died of anorexia. The ever-curious Mrs. Pargeter sets out to discover the facts surrounding the suspicious death. Enlisting the help of her dead husband's associates from the underworld, she winds her way through charlatans and impostors and toward a dangerous confrontation.