When a tourist dies under mysterious circumstances while visiting charming Evansfield, Vermont's July 4th festivities, the local sheriff believes the man's death is due to a freak accident.

But Verity Cade, dairy farmer and amateur sleuth, isn't convinced. Ironically, her astute observations not only change the lawman's mind, but they also result in the arrest of her young farmhand. Things look bad for Jason, whose violent argument with the victim was witnessed by half the town.

Vowing to free poor Jason and discover what really happened that night, Verity enlists the help of the Evansfield Private Investigations. The EPI, founded by Verity and her delightfully quirky but well-intentioned friends to support their community, realizes that only by finding the real killer will Jason be freed. Meanwhile, Verity's house ghosts, Percy and Anna Louise, also volunteer to help. But the 19th-century couple have their own worries. It seems they've lost control of their ability to stay unseen by all but Verity! They fear this foreshadows their departure from the 21st century and Verity forever!

Complicating the EPI's investigation, the murder victim's widow is attacked, a child goes missing…and then there's the less urgent but nevertheless puzzling case of the disappearance of the Cade farm's barn cat! Will Verity and her friends succeed in untangling this thorny mashup of conundrums before any more bodies turn up?