“I’ll be dead in three months. Come tell my story.” So writes reclusive mystery novelist Sebastian Trapp to his longtime correspondent, Nicky Hunter, an expert in detective fiction. With mere months to live, Trapp invites Nicky to his spectacular San Francisco mansion to help draft his life story…while living alongside his beautiful second wife, Diana; his wayward nephew, Freddy; and his protective daughter, Madeleine. Soon Nicky finds herself caught in an irresistible case of real-life “detective fever.” Twenty years earlier --- on New Year’s Eve 1999 --- Sebastian’s first wife and teenage son vanished from different locations, never to be seen again. Did the perfect crime writer commit the perfect crime? And why has he emerged from seclusion, two decades later, to allow a stranger to dig into his past?

Young Adelia Monteforte begins the summer of 1941 aboard a crowded ship bound for America, utterly alone yet free of Fascist Italy. Whisked away to the seaside by her well-meaning aunt and uncle, she basks in the noisy affection of the boisterous Irish Catholic boys next door. And although she adores all four of the Connally brothers, it's the eldest, Charlie, she pines for. But all hopes for a future together are throttled by the creep of war and a tragedy that hits much closer to home. Grief-stricken, Addie flees --- first to Washington and then to war-torn London, where she finds a position at a prestigious newspaper, as well as a chance for a new beginning. But the past always nips at her heels. And in a final, fateful choice, Addie will discover that the only way home may be a path she never suspected.

Unfairly accused of having an affair with a powerful client, crisis management expert Arden Ward’s life and dreams are about to crash and burn. Then Arden is given an ultimatum. She has just two weeks to save her career and her reputation. Is Cordelia Bannister the answer to her prayers? Cordelia needs Arden’s help for her husband Ned, a Boston real estate mogul who was recently acquitted in a fatal drunk driving accident. But his reputation is ruined, and the fallout is devastating for his family. Revelations soon begin to emerge about what really happened the night of the accident. And then another car crash throws Ned back into the spotlight. The more Arden tries to untangle the truth, the more she’s haunted by one disturbing question: What if she’s also protecting a killer?