Detective Harry Jordan sees his lake home as a respite from solving crimes on the streets of Boston until crime comes to Evening Lake. Harry Jordan is out for a walk when the night is rocked by an explosion. The Havnel house is engulfed in a blaze and Bea Havnel is seen fleeing, hair on fire, plunging into the lake. Mysterious, rough around the edges, and private, Bea and her mother Lacey are newcomers to Evening Lake and nothing like the well heeled families of the community. Bea survives the fire, but her mother does not. Harry is pulled into the investigation, as is young Diz Osborne, who, unbeknownst to any of them, carries a weighty secret about who he saw rowing on the lake that night. When it's discovered that Lacey Havnel died not from the explosion but from a knife wound, it's clear that a murderer is on the loose. And this murderer is poised to strike again, and again.