During harvest season at Virginia's Montgomery Estate Vineyard, a skull is unearthed near Lucie Montgomery's family cemetery, coinciding with the arrival of aristocrat Jean-Claude de Marignac—head winemaker at La Vigne Cellars, and Lucie's first crush 20 years ago in France. After Jean-Claude is found dead, suspicion falls on Miguel, a worker at La Vigne. When Miguel disappears, Lucie receives an ultimatum from her own employees: prove Miguel's innocence or none of the immigrant community will work for her. Lucie's ninth case (after The Vineyard Victims) was already difficult, but then she is blindsided by a decades-old secret that shatters everything she thought she knew about her family.