The Bellehaven police are baffled when a dead body turns up right in the middle of the library's fiction stacks. But Miss Helma Zukas—who never fails to make note of the slightest deviation from the norm of everyday life—is not willing to let this rather nasty disruption stand. Her precious literary sanctuary has been violated, and if the local law cannot get to the bottom of this case, Miss Zukas certainly intends to—with the help of her not-so-proper best friend, Ruth, a six-foot-tall bohemian artist with a nose for gossip and a penchant for getting into trouble. But their research project is bringing them a little too close to a killer . . . who'd like nothing better than to write Helma and Ruth out of the story completely!

But when a secret saboteur disrupts her well-planned reunion—stranding Helma and her old classmates on a fogbound island with a murderer in their midst—the intrepid librarian-sleuth takes charge once again. With a dubious assist from her raffish friend Ruth, Miss Zukas is determined to close the books on crimes both current and overdue for solution . . . before the killer takes the alumni out of circulation permanently.

But digging through Ruth's romantic rendezvous turns up more than broken hearts. There's an angry ex-wife, a jealous fellow artist, and a rampaging group of local tree-huggers. There's trouble brewing in Bellehaven . . . and only Helma and Ruth can make certain that mayhem doesn't lead to murder.

Suddenly, an explosion rocks the snowy day, destroying the library site, killing the benefactor and a penny–pinching city finance czar.

The snow melts but not trouble. Shockingly, Ms. Moon thrusts the new library project onto Helma. And Helma soon discovers why, uncovering secrets and shady dealings from start to finish – secrets in the library, in the City, and in the Harrington family – secrets worth killing for.

Miss Helma Zukas is reluctant to go hiking on the Cascade mountains, but her friend Ruth is insistent. When she agrees to go, Helma, ever the librarian, does her research, reading up on survival techniques, packing like a pro, and making up a list for her irresponsible friend. As usual, Ruth comes unprepared, having neglected to read Helma's list. But even Helma's careful preparation couldn't have anticipated the discovery of a dead body high in the rocky wilderness.

SURVIVING THE TRAIL

Since it appears unlikely that the hole in the hiker's chest was caused by a fall, Helma suspects foul play. When the victim is airlifted off the mountain, Ruth is ready to accept a ride back to civilization, but Helma insists they stay and search for the hiker's missing companion. Being good samaritans is one thing, but getting stranded in a blinding snowstorm is quite another. Especially when escaping Nature's deadly fury means holing up in a little cabin with some motley strangers who may be planning a murderous adventure for a couple of dangerously inquisitive women...

Miss Helma Zukas is reluctant to go hiking on the Cascade mountains, but her friend Ruth is insistent. When she agrees to go, Helma, ever the librarian, does her research, reading up on survival techniques, packing like a pro, and making up a list for her irresponsible friend. As usual, Ruth comes unprepared, having neglected to read Helma's list. But even Helma's careful preparation couldn't have anticipated the discovery of a dead body high in the rocky wilderness.

SURVIVING THE TRAIL

Since it appears unlikely that the hole in the hiker's chest was caused by a fall, Helma suspects foul play. When the victim is airlifted off the mountain, Ruth is ready to accept a ride back to civilization, but Helma insists they stay and search for the hiker's missing companion. Being good samaritans is one thing, but getting stranded in a blinding snowstorm is quite another. Especially when escaping Nature's deadly fury means holing up in a little cabin with some motley strangers who may be planning a murderous adventure for a couple of dangerously inquisitive women...

Flamboyant Ruth, it seems, has rejected the advances of a dirty old man in a local bar, who later, rather inconveniently, turns up dead just outside her studio. Helma knows Ruth is no killer, even though the police consider her the prime suspect. Now, time is running out. By asking too many questions about one unsavory dead man, Miss Zukas is paddling in dangerous waters. And the carefully buried scandals her snooping is uncovering could sink the inquisitive librarian permanently.

Though she's been expressly forbidden to investigate (by the scheming Ms. Moon), it's Helma's nature to delve and research, and she figures there's nothing else now that she can lose. But too much nosing around in this case, and she's not going to make it to forty-three!

The police demand the library turn over the borrower's name. Determined to uphold the privacy rights of library patrons, the ever mindful Miss Zukas deletes the information from library records -- but not before she takes note of it. And now it's up to Helma -- with teenagers in tow and an assist from bohemian buddy Ruth -- to get to the bottom of this murderous mess before Wayne Gallant's assailant makes sure the evidence Miss Zukas holds is shelved...permanently.