Emily Gray returns to the lakeside community of Baxter, Maine, expecting a peaceful week in her family's island cottage. Instead, she and her high school crush, Nate Holman, discover the body of Henry Derbin, an elderly island resident. Amid rekindling her old friendship with Nate and trying to make sense of the murder, Emily shares her faith with an old schoolmate. When a second body turns up, the cottagers on Grand Cat Island are frightened and baffled. Is this why Mr. Derbin forbade everyone from going on his land? Can Emily and Nate overcome past hindrances to their romance long enough to dig up clues that will help solve both murders?

A mysterious legend, a hidden treasure, and murder. Jeff Lewis’s hunting lodge is plagued by an intruder who thumps around in the night. Emily Gray and Nate Holman try to help their friend discover who is invading the resort. Things turn more sinister when one of Jeff’s employees is murdered, with Jeff as a suspect. Is the legend of an old lumber baron’s lost treasure behind the crimes? In the midst of the turmoil, Nate proposes to Emily. Their life together begins with unmasking the murderer at Lakeview Lodge.

As Emily and Nate plan their wedding, they work to decipher their most baffling case yet. When Emily goes to interview Stella Lessard in her home, she finds the sweet older woman dead. Stella’s odd will draws claimants to her estate. Nate, on the job as a sheriff’s deputy, stops a young woman for speeding and is stymied. She has the same name as another young woman who is trying to claim Stella’s estate. Who is the legal heir? The police rule Stella’s death a homicide, and attitudes change. What is going on at Grand Cat Island? And who brought murder again to the sleepy town of Baxter? Emily lets her emotions get in the way as she tries to befriend the two girls. She winds up in danger that puts her ingenuity and her faith to the test.