At the isolated Baikie's Cottage on the North Pennines, three very different women come together to complete an environmental study. Three women who each know the meaning of betrayal... For team leader Rachael the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little decoption of her own. And then there is Grace, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of secrets of her own to hide... When Rachael arrives at the cottage, however, she is horrified to discover the body of her friend Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide -- a verdict Rachael finds impossible to accept. Only when the next death occurs does a fourth women enter the picture -- the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope...