Bea Rivers has had three years to settle into her new role as the executive director of Shandley Gardens. She loves the job even if it sometimes interferes with raising her family. Out of the blue she is invited by an old college friend, Paige Pearson, to attend an intimate botanical garden conference at the seaside La Jolla Gardens in exclusive La Jolla, California. Bea decides to attend and convinces her friend Lila Busby, who just became the director of a garden in New Mexico, to attend as well.

The conference gets off to a shaky start and Bea can sense that something is worrying Paige. But before Bea can learn what is upsetting her friend, Paige falls from the 300-foot cliff behind the gardens to the beach below. The police begin their investigation and refuse to say whether Paige's death was a suicide or murder.

Bea begins her own investigation, trying to determine what Paige had been so concerned about and who might have wanted her dead. Bea soon learns that many of the other attendees had good reasons to wish Paige gone. As Bea's investigation uncovers the garden's secrets, she realizes that she is dealing with some very powerful and malevolent forces.