In this prequel short story to Hope's Peak, Detectives Jane Harper and Stu Raley investigate the murder of a woman in her own home, and attempt to determine the whereabouts of the woman's husband, who has fled the scene. Meanwhile, Harper and Stu's relationship gets more complicated...

Beyond the shores of Hope’s Peak, North Carolina, evil waits as his next victim approaches. He’ll make her a princess like the others… Detective Jane Harper can’t shake the image of the young woman discovered in a field—eyes closed, a crown of woven vines on her head. She expects macabre murders like this in her native San Francisco, not here. Jane and her partner, Stu, vow to catch the killer, but in this town, that’s easier said than done. The police department is in the grips of a wide-reaching scandal that could topple the entire force, and Jane and Stu face a series of dead ends. Until they meet Ida Lane. Ida knows too well the evil that lurks in the cornfields. Tortured by her mother’s murder years before, Ida is paralyzed by the fear that she could be next. As the killer grows bolder, Jane must persuade Ida to use her remarkable gifts to help in the investigation. It’s a decision that brings them closer to the killer…maybe too close.

An insidious evil has taken root in the small town of Hope’s Peak, North Carolina… In the midst of an internal investigation, the police department is thrown into chaos when Captain Frank Morelli is gunned down on his own front lawn. Detective Jane Harper suspects that someone is tying up loose ends—a conviction that only grows stronger when she witnesses the execution of another officer in broad daylight. With no one else to turn to, Jane seeks the help of psychic Ida Lane. Ida thought she’d finally find peace after the death of the man who murdered her mother. But as the town emerges from the shadow cast by that serial killer, they discover that there is more than one monster hiding in the darkness. Desperate to lay her ghosts to rest, Ida puts her extraordinary skills to the test. Together, she and Jane must uncover the truth…or be permanently silenced like the rest.