Just after dawn, Caren walks the grounds of Belle Vie, the historic plantation house she has managed for four years. Today she sees nothing unusual, apart from some ground that has been dug up. Assuming an animal has been out after dark, she asks the gardener to tidy it up. Not long afterwards, he calls her to say it's a dead body. At a distance, she missed her. Now she has police on site, an investigation in progress, and a member of staff no one can track down. As she's drawn into the dead girl's story, she makes shattering discoveries about the future of Belle Vie, the secrets of its past, and sees, more clearly than ever, that Belle Vie is not to be trusted.