It's summer in Pine Haven, and Lilah is enjoying life: she's in love, she's a popular chef and caterer, she's surrounded by good friends. But her perfect summer has some troubling distractions.

The normally ebullient Angelo Cardelini, Lilah's ex-boyfriend and current boss, has appealed to Lilah for help with a problem in his love life. The always enthusiastic Serafina Drake, Lilah's sister-in-law, has embroiled Lilah in the problems of her friend, a historian named Enzo Montanini.

Enzo is researching an Italian serial killer known as The Lake Killer. Enzo's theory is that the Lake Killer is hiding in America—specifically in Pine Haven. Though Lilah thinks this theory unlikely, she is troubled to hear that Enzo's office has been vandalized, and that someone has tried to kill his assistant. Suddenly Lilah and her boyfriend, Detective Jay Parker, investigate many disparate elements which seem to converge in one place: Pine Haven University.

Can a notorious murderer be walking the streets of Pine Haven, Lilah's shady, sleepy town? This question begins to dominate Lilah's life as she and Jay find themselves on a very dangerous trail that might bring them face to face with the Lake Killer.