Along the banks of the Ohio River, the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, has been the home of quiet pleasures and safety for Adrienne Reynolds and her fourteen-year-old daughter Skye since the death of Adrienne's husband four years ago. Their sense of safety is shattered, however, when Adrienne and Skye find the body of one of Adrienne's best friends, Julianna, in a once-elegant, now abandoned hotel named La Belle Riviere. La Belle has a long history of misfortunes, but Julianna's murder is the most gruesome.