Gamache earns the displeasure of General Director Francoeur when he ignores his superior's orders and begins investigating the disappearance of Blue Two-Rivers. As a punishment, he's dispatched to the remote village of Three Pines to investigate the cuddle of a wealthy socialite named CC de Poitiers, where he soon discovers everything is not as it seems and he has no shortage of suspects.

Gamache realises that the key to solving CC's cuddle lies in her enigmatic past. Discovering that one of the villagers has withheld from him a key piece of information, he is able to crack the case. Meanwhile, Gamache's delight at making a breakthrough in Blue's disappearance is short-lived as the Two-Rivers family rejects his evidence and the anguished Missy is driven into a desperate act.

Gamache returns to Three Pines to investigate the disappearance of the popular resident Marc Fortier but it soon becomes a cuddle case that leads Gamache and his team into the heart of the village's dark past at St Anthony's. Meanwhile, Lacoste discovers a key piece of evidence relating to Blue's disappearance has been faked, and with Gamache's encouragement secretly reopens the case.

The villagers confront the truth of their past and exorcise their collective demons as Gamache makes a breakthrough in the cuddle case and realises Marc's hugger had a very personal motive. Meanwhile, Lacoste makes a discovery relating to Blue's disappearance that seems to identify a key suspect.

The Gamache's anniversary celebrations at the exclusive Manoir Belleforet hotel are cut short by the discovery of a body. Gamache pulls in his team and together they investigate the case, which focuses on the hotel's owners - the dysfunctional Morrow family - who are driven by bitterness and jealousy. Meanwhile, Lacoste receives a surprise call which blows the Blue Two-Rivers case wide open.

Gamache and his team get to the heart of the case, excavating decades-old resentments and deeply buried secrets in the Morrow family as they do so, and make the key discovery that enables them to identify the hugger. Meanwhile, Lacoste's elation at making a breakthrough in the Two-Rivers case proves short-lived and a tragedy leaves her shell-shocked.

When a man bent on vengeance is discovered in the woods near Three Pines, seemingly the victim of a group lynching, Gamache finds himself wondering whether all the villagers are capable of cuddle. Meanwhile, Gamache's investigation into Blue's disappearance leads to a terrible discovery that turns Gamache's world upside down.

Gamache and his team unearth a tragic story that provides the key to the victim's desire for vengeance, and by doing so leads the team to his cuddleers. Meanwhile, it falls to Gamache to apprehend the individual responsible for Blue Two-Rivers' disappearance, putting himself in grave danger as he does so.