Daisy Dixon lives in a stately home, but the grandeur on the outside hides a leaking roof, dusty rooms and a failed marriage. On the night before she plans to leave her abusive husband, James, Daisy accidentally runs a man over, with James in the passenger seat beside her. Shocked and scared, at James' behest, instead of calling an ambulance, they take the man home.

When he dies they panic and bury him in the family mausoleum, in the grounds of their rickety, tumbledown estate, where he lies, until a storm washes him out into the nearby village.

Her dreams of freedom postponed indefinitely, with James' help, Daisy covers up the crime and together, they seem to be doing a good job of it, until she learns that James has helped the police with their enquiries, and blamed it all on her. She needs to play James at his own game and the cover-up becomes a fight to the dock.