Small-town Missouri genealogist, history buff, and amateur detective Victory "Torie" O'Shea is at it again. The open door of Marie Dijon's house is like an invitation to Torie. Her curiosity simply gets the best of her. It's not her fault, is it? Torie happens to be around when Marie is found crumpled at the foot of her own basement stairs, wearing her pajamas. Did Marie really just trip and fall, or could she have been pushed? Marie was a newcomer to tiny New Kassel, Missouri, so no one seems that interested. But when Torie hears about Marie's rather unusual will, try as she might, she can't resist doing a little amateur sleuthing. But by now, Torie's gone too far. Between figuring out what happened and keeping up with her own hectic life - her job at the historical society, her marriage, her two kids, and her mother's developing relationship with the sheriff (never a nosy amateur's favorite person) - Torie finds herself in way, way over her head.