Annie Young, a 33 year old technical writer, was born in the United States but has lived mostly in Europe with her Swiss based parents. She is a "Third-Culture Kid" not quite comfortable in Europe but totally uncomfortable in America. After her father inherits an old house in Caleb's Landing, Massachusetts, the Young family leaves Geneva for New England. Annie's father and his friends persuade her to create a CD on the real founding of America. Many townsfolk do not like her realistic portrayal of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. In the basement of their new house, father and daughter find skeleton dressed in pre-Civil War rags and a diary written by a runaway slave. Later her mother's business partner and Annie try to save a woman from her abusive spouse.

When history buff and multi-lingual American tech writer Annie Young returns to Southern France, she discovers the body of her fellow researcher, Père Yves, on the church steps.

"When an unidentified body pulled out of Lake Geneva turns out to be Urs Stoller, a University of Geneva art professor, French detective Roger Perret joins forces with the Swiss police to look into an apparent case of foul play. Meanwhile, tech writer Annie Young tries to unearth the history behind a portfolio of 16th-century drawings found hidden in Geneva's old town and rescued from the trash by her student friend, Mireille Bosset, once Stoller's mistress."—Provided by publisher.

Tech writer Annie Young breaks her engagement when her fianc� forbids her to take an assignment documenting a Paris dig at the site of thirteenth century inn—supervised by her old lover‚ archeologist Luca Martinelli. Amelie another dig volunteer‚ is found shot on the site. Luca, Amelie's lover‚ is in the process of a divorce and is a prime suspect. In the fourteenth century‚ Jacques Fournier is a dedicated Cistercian brother/scholar. His uncle and abbot where Jacques is cloistered sends Jacques to Paris to complete his studies and have a real-world experience. Once there‚ he becomes infatuated with Madeleine‚ the daughter of an inn-keeper. Her attractions test his faith. Annie is caught up in the modern drama while helping to unravel the past.

While on a translation assignment on the German island of Insel Poel, Annie Young discovers the bodies of two Asian women and uncovers the connection of other possible victims to the island, putting herself in danger of being the next target.

After a friend is murdered and another friend becomes the main suspect, Annie Young-Perret decides to investigate the crime only to discover that the one of the four world-famous bankers secretly meeting in her Alpine village may have had something to dowith the killing.