When an unidentified skeleton is found at the vacant lot by the lake in Branson, Kate is already on an assignment—interviewing the founder of the local arts and crafts fair, Etta Stupholds. The more she learns about Etta, though, the more clues she finds leading her back to the case. As if that doesn't annoy her enough, the Branson police department, including her on again/off again boyfriend, Detective Tom Collingwood, blocks each of her attempts to get more information about the investigation. There's more to small-town Branson than it seems, and it's up to Kate to make the connections. In this second installment of the Kate Starling Mysteries, investigative reporter, Kate Starling inserts herself in the middle of another local murder case, only this time it's more than personal.