THE EDITOR OF THE ALPINE ADVOCATE GOES DIGGING FOR A MURDERER.

At forty-two, newspaperwoman Emma Lord decides she needs time off to do

some soul-searching. But her old Jag breaks down in the picturesque Pacific

Northwest town of Port Angeles, and instead of finding herself, she ,s helping

friends find the truth about a grisly discovery: a skeleton in their basement.

The bones belong to those of an unknown young woman, buried in a

crumbling mansion nearly a century ago. A crushed skull, a garnet earring, a

locket containing a telltale keepsake *all whisper of tragedy. Ancient

photographs reveal more. But Emma has to fish in dark and dangerous

waters to get the whole story of a wealthy, ruthless family, a story that

twists and turns to a shocking conclusion that should never be told....