Lori Shepherd barely survived her last adventure - a thriller that took her to a remote Scottish island - and she is having a tough time getting back to her old self. She is nursing a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and when she does manage to catch some rest, she is plagued by terrible nightmares.

Reluctant to leave her English home, she is shocked when her husband, Bill, suggests a vacation in the Colorado Rockies. But when Lori and their five-year-old twins arrive in the beautiful mountain of Bluebird, Colorado, she quickly discovers that fresh air, snow-capped peaks, and the Aerie, her spectacular, seemingly perfect vacation home, are just what the doctor ordered.

No sooner has she arrived than things start to go amiss. The Aerie's caretaker, James Blackwell, has disappeared under mysterious circumstances; the Aerie's owners refuse to set foot in a place they once loved; the townspeople are hiding a dark secret; and Toby Cooper, the charming and charismatic new caretaker, seems to know more than he's letting on.

Is the Aerie cursed or is a sinister human hand shaping its eerie reputation? With Aunt Dimity's help, Lori sets out to solve a hundred-year-old mystery and discovers in the process that sometimes the strangest places can seem the most like home.