Professor Forest Butler is shocked to learn Farleigh O'Brien is dead. O'Brien, an award-winning, nationally renowned poet, was the star of the English Department at St. Catherine's University and seemed the last person to kill himself.

As it turns out, he didn't--he was murdered. Forest decides his late colleague's case is the perfect basis for a mystery novel. He doesn't understand why his beloved wife Emerald is so upset over O'Brien's death, but the excitement of his new fiction project distracts him. When he learns a former student is the homicide detective in charge of the case, he's convinced he's on track to write a best-seller.

But there are dark secrets under the surface at St. Cate's, and when the truth of who killed Farleigh O'Brien is revealed lives will change forever.