Janice Carleton is all set for her two-week European holiday, but just as she is about to leave she receives a letter from her sister Holly. Unbelievably, Holly, an actress working on a low-budget film in Rome, has met, fallen in love with and married a Frenchman, Jacques Manet -- all in a matter of weeks. Intrigued, Janice cancels her tour and flies out to Marseilles immediately to meet up with them.
But when Janice arrives at the Villa Fontaine, the only person there to greet her is Jacques's mother. Stephanie, who is adamant that Holly's story is a fabrication. Alarmed, Janice waits at the villa, hoping against hope that Holly and Jacques will appear, but when her life is threatened, and strange incidents occur at Fontaine, she knows that there is something sinister afoot.
The only person she can trust to help her in her search is an American journalist, Neil Grant, who is also looking for Jacques, but can they discover the mystery of Villa Fontaine before it's too late?