The day before lesbian detective Laura McCallister's vacation, an elderly man, Tobias Faraday, is found dead in his estate, a victim of an apparent poisoning. While all the evidence clearly points in one direction, a deathly cold hand, clenched to her shoulder, steers her in another. She is led through a maze of riddles and codes, secrets and sins. She looks into Faraday's cloudy eyes with a vow to determine the truth. What she didn't expect is that he would end up peering into her own. The investigation becomes excruciatingly personal, leaving her struggling to face her own secrets and sins. Who killed Tobias Faraday? Is it really as simple as it seems? And what does the painting in his sitting room—crafted by her lover of ten years, Holly Crawford—have to do with it all? Can she solve the mystery without getting mired down in her own fears and pain? And, can she do it in time for her and Holly to catch that plane to Maine? Approximate word count: 60,000