Tom and Francesca Barnett are newlyweds. Tom, Police Chief of Banner Bluff, prides himself on being meticulous and logical. In contrast Francesca, editor of the local online newspaper, is impulsive and compassionate. Together they function as a remarkable team but their marriage is suffering from the unacknowledged specter of Tom's deceased wife. A beloved sailing instructor is found bludgeoned to death down at the beach. Two days later at the Botanic Gardens a world-renowned Bonsai specialist is found poisoned in the Japanese tea house; his body artfully shrouded in red chrysanthemums. As Tom and Francesca delve into these two gruesome murders, they discover that events and people are not what they seem. Tom struggles under the pressure of mounting public discontent when Francesca makes an ill-fated decision to bring their marital differences to a head. What follows is near catastrophe for them both.