The austere old farmhouse looms menacingly in the French autumn dusk, surrounded by acres of vineyards. It was here that Odile, matriarch of the far-flung Annesley clan, had retreated years before in tragedy’s wake. It is here that her many descendants will gather to celebrate her eightieth birthday and hear her discuss the terms of her will. And it is here that menace and murder will slip undetected through the big house’s door.

For the five female adult grandchildren – sensible British Clemency, chic Paris designer Elodie, retiring Oxford scholar Isabelle, ambitious London property dealer Madeline, and Cherie, the illegitimate black sheep –the reunion promises good things: a reacquaintance with each other, a rapprochement with Grandmere, an occasion to grace the family albums.

But in this family bloodlines run thick – and slippery. There is cousin Harry, the gifted yet failing architect who arrives to secure his legacy by any means necessary; Odile’s mystifying silence at the news of her relatives’ pending visit; and the escalating string of violent deaths that is quietly shrinking the large Annesley dynasty. Just as ominous is the handsome, enigmatic stranger who carves a path of seduction and suspicion through the hearts of the five women.