The Secret

Colin Howell is a successful dentist with a wife and three children and a fourth on the way. A leading member of his Baptist church, he seems to have it all. But when he meets fellow churchgoer Hazel Buchanan, their mutual attraction sets off an insidious chain of events.

Colin persuades Hazel that the only viable way for them to be together is to kill their spouses, but he will need her full cooperation for it to work. Then, after inheriting money from her father’s estate, Lesley threatens to leave Colin, prompting him to set his plan into motion.

Among doubts about the apparent suicides of Lesley and Trevor, the police ask Colin and Hazel some difficult questions, but they are hampered by lack of evidence. Despite the coroner’s official verdict putting the lovers in the clear, Hazel’s guilt consumes her and inhibits their affair.

Viewing his son’s death as a sign of God’s punishment for his past sins, Colin convinces himself that God will now allow him to prosper. When his life begins to crumble around him instead, he finally decides that he must confess his crimes—but he is determined to take Hazel down with him.