Looking forward to a peaceful weekend, Bea Abbot's plans are disrupted by the unexpected arrival of one of her clients, bearing a brown leather briefcase full of expensive jewellery. Magda Summerleys has been working as a housekeeper for wealthy art expert Lucas Rycroft who, she says, entrusted her with the briefcase for safekeeping - and who seems to have disappeared without trace.

Drawn into the tangled affairs of the dysfunctional Rycrofts, Bea soon discovers that other members of the family are determined to get their hands on the jewels - by whatever means necessary. Also caught up in the chaos is her ex-husband Piers, who had been commissioned to paint Lucas Rycroft's portrait. Then a body is discovered at Lucas's home .and events begin to spiral out of control.