Dr Lucien Blake left Ballarat as a young man. But now he finds himself returning to take over not only his dead father's medical practice, but also his on-call role as the town's police surgeon, only to find change is afoot, nothing is sacred, and no one is safe.

On a fishing trip with his parents, young Charlie reels in a black boot from the grimy depth of the sea. Soon after a strange figure lurking in the shadows attempts to lay its hands on something that will tear the family apart.

As musical theatre superstar Valerie Broom juggles her career, motherhood, and an ambitious understudy, the arrival of live-in nanny Grace disrupts their family dynamics, exposing a disturbing secret.