Joe Silva confronts the high cost of modern medicine and the new legal but lethal drugs seeping into Mellingham and even his own new family. The fifth in this highly rated series portrays the dark side of the perfect town, and the suffering behind the gated walls.

Graduates are descending on Mellingham for the 25th high school reunion, and several of them are bringing trouble. Eliot Keogh is looking for the man or woman who was responsible for sending his father to prison many years ago. Becka Chase is facing painful disillusionment and perhaps even the loss of her marriage when a neighbor makes a clumsy pass at her. Then Vic Rabelard, the neighbor, is found unconscious, his wife missing, and no one knows where she's gone. Joe Silva enters a tight-knit world where loyalty carries a high price for everyone.

The Arbella Historical Society is rife with tension these days, even before George Frome was found murdered in the attic, surrounded by old paintings. The list of suspects is long, including Kelly Kuhn, an independent art dealer who is slowly sinking into debt, and just about everyone else who had ever dealt with the acerbic Frome. But Frome's death isn't the only worry for Mellites. Joe Silva is concerned about one in particular, Gwen McDuffy, a young mother recently returned to Mellingham.

Preston Mattson has spent his career teaching in an out-of-the-way art school, never having to confront his failures until adult student Hank Vinnio shoulders his way onto campus, disrupting classes and everything else with his sly and cynical style. Mattson and a lot of others are relieved with Vinnio is found dead until Joe Silva decides his death wasn't an accident.

Beth O'Donnell is as intensely disliked as her brother, Howard, is admired. Her visits to his family in Mellingham are, blessedly, short and intermittent, but this time she seems to have gone too far in her insults. Her death in a small cottage behind Howard's home suggests one of her casual barbs hit a deadly nerve. Joe Silva explores the other part of Mellingham where everyone expects friend or neighbor to be rich, discreet, and above suspicion.