In Dana Stabenow's strongest novel to date, Charlotte Mauravieff hires Aleutian P.I. Kate Shugak to clear her mother's name. Twenty years ago, her mother was convicted of murder, of setting fire to the family home while her two sons were inside. One died, and one narrowly escaped. Charlotte has always believed in her innocence, though the mother herself accepted the verdict and the life sentence without protest. Now she is terminally ill, and Charlotte wants her free. As Kate begins an investigation, the mother refuses to cooperate, but soon it seems she isn't the only one who wants to leave the past in the past.