In 1905, Rebecca Bryan, the first woman to practice law in Kalispell, Montana, is sent by her uncle/ senior partner to a remote hunting lodge near the Canadian border. She's to find the missing will of his deceased longtime love, the wealthy artist Lucinda Cale. After a broken coach wheel forces her to set out in the winter forest at night, she meets Lucinda's compelling son, Bretton. The next morning, she meets the rest of the dysfunctional Cale family. There Rebecca also discovers Lucinda's hidden diaries, which tell of a naive bride's victimization that hardened her into a manipulative, murderous matriarch. Lucinda's estate is large and each heir is desperate.