When Isabelle Leonard's fiancé dumps her at the altar, the feisty Isabelle doesn't fall apart. Instead, she dances on the table at her reception. Her actions earn a front-page mention in a major New York newspaper, and in the resulting 15 minutes of fame, decorating maven Becky Belden hires Isabelle to work at her magazine—part of Belden's vast media empire.It seems like a dream job until Isabelle's boss dies under odd circumstances, and Isabelle discovers that many of Becky's employees have died recently. Soon Isabelle herself is targeted, and in typical hardheaded fashion, she begins a zealous investigation into the deaths. The more clues she discovers, the more likely it seems that her new executive boyfriend might be the murderer, or the one ordering the murders.

Ginny Lavoie may be depressed over her suspension from the New York Police Department, but her woes pale in comparison to those of her childhood friend, Sonya, whose 19-year-old adopted son, Danny, was savagely murdered in their hometown of North Adams, Massachusetts. (Sonya took over the care of Danny the moment her deadbeat sister left the 15-month-old at her doorstep.)Ginny returns to the onetime mill town to investigate and is soon exchanging barbs with the bombastic local police chief and kisses with her old high-school sweetheart, Jimmy. Danny's troubles, it seems, coincided with his search for his birth mother, but who in the town didn't want them to reconnect? No one, it seems, is above suspicion, from a homeless Vietnam vet to a cool Manhattanite known for dealing crystal meth. More deaths—and a grim discovery at a popular town landmark—lead determined Ginny to a series of startling truths.