Clara Woods is a killer --- and perfectly fine with it, too. At the bottom of her garden is a flower bed, long overgrown, where her late husband rests in peace --- or so she’s always thought. Then her recently orphaned nieces Lily and Violet arrive. Clara agrees to take them, hoping to get her hands on some of the girls’ assets. There’s only one problem. Violet can see the dead man at the bottom of the garden. She can see all of Clara’s ghosts...and call them back into existence. Soon Clara is plagued by her victims and at war with the gifted girls in her care. Lily and Violet have become a liability --- and they know far more than they should.

Something dark and twisted has taken root at the Bender Inn. At first the townspeople of Cherryvale welcome the rising medium Kate Bender and her family. Kate's messages from the Beyond give their tedious dreams hope, and her mother's potions cure their little ills --- for a price. No one knows about their other business, the shortcut to a better life. And why shouldn’t their family prosper? They’re careful. It’s only from those who are marked, those who travel alone and can easily disappear, that the Benders demand their pound of flesh. But even a gifted seer like Kate can make a misstep. Now, as the secrets festering beneath the soil of the family orchard threaten to bring them all to ruin, the Benders must sharpen their craft --- or vanish themselves.

Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen. When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with --- and feeling inspired to write about --- Ilsbeth’s infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years. What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women’s worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they ever could imagine.