The Gamache’s anniversary celebrations at the exclusive Manoir Belleforet hotel are cut short by the discovery of a body. Gamache pulls in his team and together they investigate the case, which focuses on the hotel’s owners – the dysfunctional Morrow family – who are driven by bitterness and jealousy. Meanwhile, Lacoste receives a surprise call which blows the Blue Two-Rivers case wide open.

Gamache and his team get to the heart of the case, excavating decades-old resentments and deeply buried secrets in the Morrow family as they do so, and make the key discovery that enables them to identify the killer. Meanwhile, Lacoste’s elation at making a breakthrough in the Two-Rivers case proves short-lived and a tragedy leaves her shell-shocked.