Rachel Krall, the host of a true-crime podcast, is in a small town in North Carolina covering the rape trial of a local champion swimmer, Scott Blair, who is accused of raping high school student Kelly Moore, the granddaughter of the police chief. While Rachel covers this case, she receives a note from Hannah Stills asking for her help looking into the alleged drowning of her sister, Jenny Stills, twenty-five years ago. Hannah insists that Jenny was raped, beaten, and murdered. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers connections between the two cases, as well as new information that changes everything.