It was a hot July day in the south of France when Maryanne vanished and Adam has struggled to come to terms with his wife's disappearance. Out of the blue, more than two years later, he receives an enigmatic message. It prompts him to return to the scene of her disappearance, near the medieval town of Uzes, to try to piece together what might have happened. In doing so, he is forced to examine their relationship, and with it his own shortcomings and feelings of guilt.
It is February and the weather is altogether different from his last visit. The mistral, the ferocious northerly wind of the region, is battering the streets of the historic town, forcing locals inside. Braving the cold and wind, Adam soon learns that his return has not gone unnoticed. What begins as a search for his lost wife becomes more sinister and dangerous, as more of her past is revealed. Increasingly he becomes enmeshed in one man's obession and a world of intrigue and deceit with its past rooted in antiquity.