Pediatrician and amateur genealogist Anne McPhail arrives in the Vermont town of Culver's Mills on a journey into her own past. But she when she finds the dead body of the woman she was coming to meet, reference librarian Jennifer Smith, her journey takes a dangerous turn, into a history that includes hidden scandal and blackmail among the town elites. Local police enlist Anne's help but she comes close to losing her own life before exposing the killer in their midst.

Anne McPhail is back in Culver's Mill's Vermont for a quiet holiday. But Culver's Mills is an unlucky spot for her vacation. She finds the dead body of a naked man and is soon helping her friend, Adam Davidson, to investigate the murder. Who is the dead man and how was he involved in a theft from the local art gallery? Who owns the art? James Trevelyan, an elderly man whose genealogy may hold the key, or the owners of Evan's, the inn where they were found? More bodies turn up as the murderer kills of the members of the gang. Then he turns his attention to Anne.

Anne McPhail is on holiday in Bermuda, visiting her sister. She stumbles upon a murder in progress and this time, she is more than just a witness, she is a suspect, dealing with a police officer who decides Anne is guilty, and sticks to it in face of the evidence or lack of it. But more is going on than a random murder. Anne is caught in the middle a dangerous assassination plot. When she inadvertently upsets the killer ’s plan, he turns his attention to her. The risk spreads to her family and friends and then Thomas Beauchamp arrives on Bermuda.

Anne McPhail, retired pediatrician, shattered by her experience in Bermuda, rents a tiny house in Setenil, Spain, hoping to reconcile what she learned about herself and Thomas after the gunfire in that dark room on the island. But she sees a child on the terrace of the local cafe who doesn’t seem to belong to her minders and then Ari, the Mossad agent who saved Anne’s life, seeks her out with a plan to rescue the child from kidnappers. Should she trust him? Three days later, she is on the run with Ari and the little girl, with killers Esti and Sergio on their trail. She glimpses a man she thinks is Thomas. Is he, too in Spain? And why? How far will Anne go to save Naomi? From Spain to France to Italy, this is Anne’s most dangerous journey.

A Christmas holiday in Vermont turns deadly for Dr Anne McPhail whose hopes for a quiet family celebration with Thomas Beauchamp derail when his children reject her, and his mother falls ill. Anne flees to her friend Catherine's B&B for comfort and a place to stay, but when she goes for a walk in the snow to the town square, she stumbles across a body in her friend Erin's antique store. A few hours later, Erin disappears. Is Erin a suspect or a victim? While Anne joins the search, an old adversary, plotting revenge, arrives from Europe. Anne stumbles over another body, and then the killer closes in on her.

Before the novel, there was the short story, told around the campfire or the table, to children and myths, fables, and fairy tales. Five of these short stories feature paediatrican and amateur genealogist Anne McPhail. Her travels plunge her into murder investigations from Vancouver to Quebec City. In other stories, some journeys are external and take us to locations from Dubai to England's West Country to rural Ontario and some, like The Decision, on deeply personal and internal voyages.

The Ice Storm Murders In this, the 6th of the Dangerous Journeys series, Anne McPhail and Thomas Beauchamp return to Inverness, a back-country lodge, for a wedding. But an ice storm destroys communication and isolates the guests. Then, murder robs host David McKnight of his bride. The storm rages for days, fuel and power run out and tempers flare. An attempt on David's life pulls a reluctant Anne McPhail and Thomas Beauchamp into the investigation. Thomas finds another body, and then the killer's attention turns to Anne. A bonus short story, Homicide in Haliburton, the prequel to The Ice Storm Murders is included. Who murders multimillionaire Cooper Thwaite in his remote country lodge? Anne and Thomas investigate when a winter storm cuts off any hope of escape.