When the body of Nouf ash-Shrawi, a 16-year-old girl who disappeared into the desert, is found dead from drowning, the rich Shrawi family ask Nayir al-Sharqi to investigate Nouf's death. Nayir, a conservative Muslim, must traverse the gulf between Saudi men's and women's worlds, and seeks out the help of Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the state medical examiner's office.