March 1955. Ellen Von Der Hyde can finally breathe easier now that some stability has returned to her life. After four years of struggle, including coping with the tragic deaths of her parents and paying off her ex-husband's gambling debts, she has a job as a writer for a Boston newspaper, an apartment that she can afford and an easy-going relationship with her witty co-worker Nick Stanton.But the newly found balance in Ellen's life lasts only a couple of days, before she discovers that a mystery is brewing in her hometown, where her sister Meg still lives. The sisters learn that their brother Eric, a career Army officer, has died, entrusting his childhood friend, Julian Baker, with his last wishes. The secrecy surrounding Eric's death triggers a series of events that will expose betrayal, murder, and an obsession that threatens the very core of their family's identity - and possible existence.To understand the present, Ellen soon finds herself following a trail into the past that leads from a monastery to a mortuary, unearthing decades of family secrets that she hopes don't only rest with the dead. At the end of that road, Ellen makes a discovery that takes her breathe away.It may be the last breath she takes.