Liz Reid is persuaded to fly to London when Charlie Ebersole, her fellow worker in Los Angeles, sends her a poem from England about an ancient curse put on the estate of Monksrest by a monk, and tells her that the sister of his English friend, Reggie, has been murdered. It is the 1960s and Liz doesn't believe in curses, but she is interested in history and has been looking for a reason to go to England. When she arrives at Monksrest, beside the English Channel, it appears at first that members of the family may be in denial about what happened. But then Liz bonds with Lord Wheatley, Reggie's father, and agrees to get involved with finding the killer. What she doesn't know is, curse or no curse, showing too much interest in the murder investigation could get her killed.