It is 1953, and stately Garwood House is home to the Bennet family: Percy, his wife Florence, and their newborn son Philip. But Percy and Florence's marriage is one of convenience, not love, and when an unexpected and tragic death endangers their fragile arrangement, Florence will stop at nothing to cover it up.

Over twenty years later a violent and seemingly inexplicable murder threatens to unearth long-buried secrets. It is a mystery that takes Philip, his `Aunt' Amy and the police to Naples and back, desperately seeking not just the murderer, but answers. Why was the housekeeper suddenly and unceremoniously dismissed two decades ago? Why does Florence seem to have two passports? And above all, who is the real heir to Garwood House?