When a major London art gallery is alerted to the presence of a human bone in one of its sculptures, the gallery contacts the artist’s representatives, who fly into panic mode. The sculpture, which features bones encased in glass presumed to have belonged to a deer, is the work of Vanessa Chapman, a reclusive artist who recently died. Chapman lived on Eris, a remote Scottish island with a single house on it, which is cut off from the mainland by the tide for 12 hours a day.
To get to the bottom of the mystery – and to quell a possible scandal – James Becker, who runs the foundation responsible for Chapman’s work, is dispatched to Eris, which is now home to Grace, Chapman’s close friend and fierce protector of her legacy. Grace is meant to be sorting through Chapman’s belongings to determine what should go to the foundation, but seems curiously reluctant to part with them. Before travelling, Becker learns that Chapman’s estranged husband, a known philanderer, disappeared in odd circumstances decades earlier and is presumed dead.
