Lady Georgiana Rannoch is just back from her honeymoon with dashing Darcy O'Mara when a friend in need pulls her into a twisted Gothic tale of betrayal, deception, and murder. Georgie is a bit at loose ends—her cook, Queenie, is making her new role as mistress of Eynsleigh something akin to constant torture as Darcy is off on another one of his top secret jaunts. So when her dearest friend Belinda inherits an old cottage in Cornwall and begs her to go inspect the property with her, Georgie jumps at the chance. After a heart-stopping journey in Belinda's beast of a motorcar, they arrive at the creaky old cottage called White Sails and quickly realize it's completely uninhabitable. Just when Georgie is starting to wonder if she would have been better off trying to get Queenie to cook a roast that hasn't been burnt beyond all recognition, they meet Rose Summers, a woman Belinda knew as a child when she spent time in Cornwall. Rose invites them to stay at Trewoma Hall, the lovely estate now owned by her husband, Tony. Belinda confesses she never really liked Rose and had a fling with Tony years ago, so staying with them is far from ideal, but beggars can't be choosers. Trewoma is not the idyllic house Belinda remembers. There's something claustrophobic and foreboding about the place. Matters aren't helped by the oppressively efficient housekeeper, Mrs. Mannering, or by the fact that Tony seems to want to rekindle whatever he and Belinda had right under his wife's nose. Georgie and Belinda's increasingly awkward visit turns deadly when a member of the household is found murdered and all clues point to Belinda as the prime suspect. Georgie soon learns some long-buried secrets have come back to haunt those in residence at Trewoma Hall, and she'll need to sift through the ruins of their past so Belinda doesn't lose her chance at freedom in the present.