When Lady Justine Harfield drowned in the stream that runs through the village of Prinsted, the coroner had returned a verdict of accidental death. Twenty years later, Lady Justine's daughter, Rose, who was only five years old at the time of her mother's death, remained to be convinced of the correctness of that verdict. She asks Brazelle, a man she has only recently met, to investigate.

Brazelle is at first reluctant to agree, but is eventually persuaded to take a fresh look at the matter. Although his initial enquiries fail to throw up anything that appears to conflict with the coroner's verdict, he very quickly becomes aware of some rather mysterious and odd circumstances surrounding the tragedy, and decides to focus his attention on those.

The wealthy Harfield family has maintained its position of prominence in the parish of Prinsted for over three hundred years and possesses a number of family mysteries that stretch back that far. As Brazelle investigates the context of Lady Justine's death he is also drawn into exploring some of these age-old mysteries, although it isn't just simple curiosity that motivates him, but something far more complex. There is an air of mystery surrounding Brazelle himself and, the further he researches, the more he realises there is a very clear interplay between the Harfield family mysteries and some of his own deep secrets.

The truth Brazelle eventually discovers is not only unexpected and shocking, but has elements that are so sensitive he decides they should never be made public.