When Jerome Kronberg, who is facing prosecution for investment fraud, dies in a fall from a mountain in Connecticut, there are some people who believe it was no accident. Some think it was suicide; some suspect he was killed by an irate client. Others suspect a more supernatural cause. According to the legend of The Black Dog, if you see the dog three times on the mountain, you die, and Kronberg had seen the dog twice when he took his last hike. It is The Black Dog that motivates Marcie Ducasse to investigate the death for her Weird Happenings Column in Roaming New England Magazine. While Marcie is dealing with a deadly dog, Amanda Vickers, her editor, is trying to decide whether to accept a proposal of marriage from her persistent boyfriend. Both women are forced by the events confronting them to dig down and find new sources of strength.