Mick Farrell is the only funeral director in Ballyrowan. He is also a very unpopular man - pedantic, tight-fisted and stiff as a corpse. His long-suffering wife Catriona works alongside him, preparing the departed for their final send-off. Their daughter Niamh, a sweet, strange girl, can't wait to grow up and join the family business. She isn't allowed inside the funeral parlour but she sneaks in whenever she can to watch her parents tending to the dead.
But when the Farrells, who have made death their business, are suddenly confronted by grief themselves, the fault-lines running through their eccentric home start to fracture. Catriona's mental health teeters on a knife edge. Mick is drawn back to dangerous old temptations. And Niamh, left to her own devices as her parents unravel, resorts to confiding in a recently deceased old lady, the latest customer to pass through the funeral home, and is astonished to hear the corpse speaking back…