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Winner of the 1998 Malice Domestic Grant • “Marcia Talley’s terrific debut novel has wit, warmth, and a spunky new heroine who must not be missed.”—Sujata Massey, Agatha-winning author of The Salaryman’s Wife

She lost her job. She almost lost her life. Now Hannah Ives is taking her first brave steps back into the world, wearing a wig and her heart on her sleeve after a frightening bout with breast cancer. But in the small Chesapeake Bay town where she came for a vacation, she does not find the relaxation she deserves. Instead Hannah finds a body -- of a girl who disappeared eight years before.

Suddenly Hannah is asking hard questions of the good and solid citizens of Pearson’s Corner, peering behind the facade of the perfect small town and piecing together the last days of a girl who died on her high school homecoming night—a girl about the same age as Hannah’s own daughter. Uncovering some dangerous secrets, Hannah can feel her own spirit and body surging back to life. After all, she beat death once. Now, with a killer on the loose, she has to face an even deadlier foe. . . .

“A shining new talent . . . Hannah Ives tackles life’s up and downs with humor, intelligence, and courage.”—Deborah Crombie, Macavity Award-winning author of Dreaming of the Bones