Canadian doctor and amateur genealogist Anne McPhail finds a murdered woman on the floor of the library in Culver's Mill's, a small town in Vermont. Jennifer Smith, the dead librarian was a gifted genealogical researcher who had been collecting information about her clients, and using it to blackmail them. She had extorted money from all kinds of people: local wealthy families; Russian criminals, and quiet, unassuming grandmothers. Anne takes a dangerous journey, retracing Jennifer's steps through the small-town family histories find the murderer amongst her victims.