With her mother, Haille, and stepfather dead in tragic accidents, Melody Logan has only just begun to find a safe mooring with the Logans. But then a friend spots a photograph of Haille modelling in a catalogue, and it seems possible that she didn't perish in a Californian fire after all. But although Melody finally finds her mother, nothing can soften the blow of the moment when she stands face-to-face with Haille, and sees her eyes turning cold. Why has her mother pretended not to recognise her? And most importantly why did she fake her own death?

Melody is determined to find out, for only in her mother's world of unkept promises and tattered fantasies will she unearth the truth about her past. And then, perhaps, she might find her way to a safer, better place...