Claire is too innocent to suspect that her marriage is a cruel farce,believing instead that the dangerous accidents that keep appearing in herpath are just thataccidents. She wedded Justin Leroux suddenly and silently.He was the tall dark stranger of her girlhood dreams, and had finally cometo take her away. She returns with him to Sans Songe, the Leroux familyplantation in Louisiana. A near-fatal accident on the road to the plantationdoes not bode well for her future there. And indeed, many nasty surprisesawait her at the plantation itself. Voodoo magic, poisoned food, and amurder mystery force Claire into a stalemate. She ishelpless within thebosom of her frigid and isolating new family, while her husband has yet tocome to her bed. He may even be hoping for her destruction, as she is drawninto an ever more tangled web of passion and intrigue. In a harsh worldwhere love means danger, Claire struggles just to survive.