Twenty-three year-old Tracy Hubbard works for "Views", a magazine and art book publisher. She talks her way into a visit to Istanbul, to help Miles Radburn ready his notes for publication of a book on Turkish tiles and mosaics. Unbeknownst to Radburn, and at the beginning, to the reader, Tracy has an ulterior motive in asking for this job. We know it has something to do with Radburn's wife, Anabel, who is said to have committed suicide only 3 months before.

When Tracy arrives, she is put in the room that had been Anabel's. It's slowly revealed how Anabel died and Tracy's secret. Too soon, though, it is apparent that Tracy's life is in danger, too. As Tracy surreptitiously investigates the circumstances surrounding Annabel's death, she discovers that her sister had secrets of her own. Moreover, everyone is not as they seem. Someone has a very big secret, and they will stop at nothing to keep it so.