Kathleen Kavanagh, an Australian journalist, receives a letter from an Irish legal firm informing her that Fionnbharr Kavanagh, a distant great-uncle, has bequeathed his vast fortune and estate to her. However, there are conditions she has to meet before she can claim the inheritance. This news leaves Kathleen puzzled, since Fionnbharr has children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of his own.



The history of Kathleen's family is a bloody one. In 1865, Kathleen's great-grandfather, Cormac Padraig Kavanagh, brutally murdered his wife along with her lover. Aggie Muldoon, the mother of the slain young man, placed a curse on Cormac Padraig and his descendants for robbing her of her youngest son.



Arriving in Wexford, Kathleen settles into a Bed & Breakfast. To her horror, she discovers her host, Mrs Doherty, is a descendant of Aggie Muldoon. She meets one of the guests, Josh Abbott and they become good friends.



Kathleen quickly finds new accommodation run by a local woman, Mrs Whelan. On the first evening, Mrs Whelan raises the subject of the curse of Aggie Muldoon. As the old woman elaborates on the subject of the curse, the lights go out just as lightning strikes. Mrs Whelan, sustains terrible injuries later resulting in her death. To Kathleen's astonishment, Sean Muldoon, the Inspector of Police assigned to Mrs Whelan's case, is the son of Aggie Muldoon Doherty. As the story progresses, Sean Muldoon becomes both a friend and a foe to Kathleen.



The relatives in Ireland contest the will, and a legal battle develops. During her stay in Wexford, the only person who is compassionate towards Kathleen is Donahl Kavanagh, the youngest of the great-grandchildren of Fionnbharr Kavanagh.



So begins Kathleen's chaotic journey, which gradually unfolds a world of secrets, passion and deceit, against a backdrop of the Celtic lore of shape-shifting and werewolves.