Hibou, the remote fermette in the St Sauver region of France, had looked so pretty back in the summer when the Wardle-Smith family had journeyed across the Channel to view it. The life it offered seemed so appealing: sitting outside in the balmy evening sunshine enjoying some of the local wine with the property's owner, sculptor Bernard Metz. It should have been the stuff dreams are made of; somewhere that Tom's wife, Cathy, could recover from her deepening depression, and where their children, Flora and Max, could experience a less frenzied way of life...and, of course, it would have been one in the eye for the smug Simistons back in England. But for the unlucky Wardle-Smiths the dream wasn't to come true and their plans for a new life are sabotaged from the start: missing furniture, no plumbing or electrics, an eerie cave at the back of the fermette where small bones are discovered...and, worst of all, the ultimate neighbour from hell. Veal farmer Samson Bonneau, the Wardle-Smiths' new neighbour, is not pleased to be sharing his village with les anglais, and he will stop at nothing to scare them from their new home, much to the chagrin of his elderly mother Liliane. Meanwhile, his barbaric farming methods are being investigated by the beautiful and forthright Natalie Musset, a motorbike-riding member of the League of St Francis. As their paths cross, the lives of the Wardle-Smiths, Natalie and the Bonneaus all change irrecoverably. Almost everyone has a secret buried in their past, but will their shallow graves keep them hidden for long? Be brave and begin the journey that will take you to the heart of France's eerie, unseen side. You may never look at our Gallic cousins the same way again...