Virginia is engaged by the wealthiest wife of an arctic explorer to lead an women-only expedition to find her missing husband. Virginia has a lot of experience doing this but not in the north. She gets to pick a handful of the group but Lady Jane Franklin selects the majority. A wealthy heiress, a maid, a couple of doctors and other semi and/or unqualified women embark. However, the heiress dies during the expedition and chapters rotate between the experience of the women and Virginia’s murder trial.