Adopted at birth, Hanna Conti attempts to trace her family. She turns up a mother who, 20 years earlier, was convicted of murder. Convinced that her mother is innocent, Hannah hires PI Grace Smith to prove it. Grace uncovers the story of the very messy murder of Janet Hepburn, a teacher at St. Martin’s Comprehensive, but there are a lot of people who’d rather she stopped digging. On Grace’s side (or possibly not) is an ex-cop with a shady past and Betterman177, a mysterious emailer who sends tantalizing clues about what was happening at St. Martin’s two decades ago. To add to these complications, Grace has been conned into bird-sitting a psychotic parrot, and Terry Rosco, the most chauvinistic cop in Seatoun, is trying to move into Grace’s spare room. And, oh yes—someone keeps trying to kill her.