When a rare blizzard strikes the north of Ireland in 1963, the inhabitants of one city find their intimate desires thrown into sharp relief. A wife dies before a husband can make his confession; her coffin is pulled to the church by a young man engulfed by his first romantic feelings. Elsewhere, an old woman searches madly for a wedding dress, and a lonely headmaster is tempted into indiscretion. In the heart of the city, meanwhile, the white snow is tainted by the murder of a young woman. As one man begins to unravel the city's dark secrets, he must race against time to find the murderer before the snow melts.