Little more than a year after graduating from law school, Karen Mitchell is feeling discontent. She has a prime job with a top legal firm, but after one seventeen-hour day too many, she starts to realise there's more to life. Packing up her belongings and handing in her notice, she returns to tranquil, undeveloped Paradise to figure out what she really wants to do with her time. Within minutes of driving into her home town, however, Karen realises that Paradise isn't going to be the sleepy haven she'd imagined. Little Debbie Norris, the daughter of Karen's childhood friend Jeannie, is missing, and the tiny, close-knit community has been thrown into chaos. When Debbie's body is found in a shallow grave and neighbour Todd Simmons is named as her murderer, Karen's loyalties are divided. She's desperate to find Debbie's killer, but she knows a terrible injustice has been done to Todd, and this is the perfect opportunity for her to do something worthwhile with her legal skills. And roving reporter Neil Bradford, returning to Paradise for a break in his hectic schedule after taking a bullet in war-torn Bosnia, can't help but agree.