Local, part-time Librarian Aurora Teagarden is about to be pulled into a mystery that is almost too close to home. In fact, that is where the adventure starts. With winter setting in, Roe and her husband Martin have ordered some wood. The gentleman who was hired to bring in the wood seems to totally go nuts while doing so. After being led away by the police, it becomes clear that someone spiked his asprin.

And that is just the start of it. After Martin heads into work to do a couple of things before they have to go to a business dinner, Roe is visited by Regina, Martin's niece. Regina comes with a little surprise ... a baby, and the little one is hers. After settling Regina and the newborn in the apartment over the garage, Martin and Roe head off to their dinner and return to an even more bizarre scene than the one that took place earlier. Regina is missing, the baby's father Craig is lying dead on the stairs to the apartment after getting hit by an axe, and the baby, named Hayden, is all alone under a bed in the apartment.

Roe, who has been wanting to have a child for years and is unable to, now finds herself responsible for taking care of little Hayden while also trying to figure out what really happened with Martin's family. Their only clue walks out of their house a short time after they have come home. Rory Brown comes out in a daze. It turns out that he is a friend of Craig and Regina, and he clearly knows more than he is willing to say.

The three of them end up heading north to Martin's family farm with the hopes of finding out some information that might have caused all of this trouble. They find more than they could have ever expected after some money turns up in Hayden's diaper bag.

Upon arriving in Martin's hometown, readers are introduced to a whole new set of country characters. All of them seem to have a history with Martin and his family. In fact, that proves to be even more so than it seems at first glance.

The story builds into an exciting conclusion on a cold, dark, and wintry night that uncovers all the secrets that everyone needs to know to know what really happened to Regina, Craig, and poor little baby Hayden. It won't come to a conclusion without more death and danger for everyone involved.

To this day, I am not quite sure why this series has been overlooked until Harris' recent super-success with the Sookie Stackhouse series. Roe is an interesting character, though I have to admit that I am not a fan of her husband Martin. I keep wanting her to seek out her beau, an Atlanta horror writer, from the first book. With that said, the mysteries and Roe's relating adventures rarely disappoint. She would give Jessica Fletcher, from Murder She Wrote a run for her money. This sixth volume in the series doesn't disappoint.