Everyone in Painters Mill knows the abandoned Hochstetler farm is haunted. Ghost stories abound, but no one knows what really happened that terrible night thirty-five years ago when an Amish father and his four children perished-and his young wife disappeared without a trace.

When Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of an apparent suicide-a man found hanging from the rafters in his barn-evidence quickly points to murder. She finds herself following an elusive trail that points back to the tragedy of that long ago incident. Meanwhile, Kate has moved in with state agent John Tomasetti and for the first time in a long time, she's happy. Their newfound bliss is shattered when one of the men responsible for the murders of Tomasetti's family four years ago is found not guilty and walks away a free man.

When a second man turns up dead, Kate discovers a link that sends the investigation in a direction no one could imagine and uncovers a horrifying truth that reaches deep into the past and strikes at the very heart of Painters Mill. As Kate draws a bead on a stone cold killer, a murderer vows to right old wrongs and kill anyone who stands in the way.