On a beautiful, eerily quiet May morning, a girl is found brutally bludgeoned to death. When Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming arrives, the silence of the scene is broken only by the ringing of the girl's cell phone. The nearby community of Drumbreck is small and close-knit, but the veneer of contented prosperity conceals nasty secrets and daily betrayals. When another corpse is discovered, DI Fleming quickly realizes she must watch her own back while she searches for the link between the murders. As she uncovers layer upon layer of intrigue and deceit, it becomes apparent that while the dead can't tell lies, the living most certainly can.