A troubled woman drowns herself in the Savannah River behind River Oaks, her husband's estate. On the anniversary of the tragedy, her young daughter falls down the mansion's stairs and claims her dead mother pushed her, the beginning of multiple attempts by the mother to kill the young girl.

Years later, probate attorney Olivia (Livia) Bryant is drawn into the tragic history of River Oaks Plantation - and sees the rotting ghost of her client's drowned wife. Livia becomes involved with her client's son and entangled in the mystery of the vengeful ghost.