Aurora's fortunes change after a deceased acquaintance names her as heir to a rather substantial estate, complete with a skull hidden in the house. Roe concludes that the elderly woman has purposely left her a murder to solve.

The small Minnesota town of Mayville Heights is faced with a flood, while the librarian Kathleen Paulson, her two cats, and detective Marcus Gordon try to solve the mystery of the drowning death of local artist and mask-maker Jaeger Merrill.

"The Paris Library meets The Flight Girls in this captivating historical novel about the sacrifice and courage necessary to live a life of honor, inspired by the first female volunteer librarians during World War I and the first women accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy"-- "Two women. One secret. A truth worth fighting for. 1918. Timid Emmaline Balakin works at the lives more in books than her own life. That is, until an envelope crosses her desk...

"Paris, 1939. Young, ambitious, and tempestuous, Odile Souchet has it all: Paul, her handsome police officer beau; Margaret, her best friend from England; her adored twin brother Remy; and a dream job at the American Library in Paris, working alongside the library's legendary director, Dorothy Reeder. But when World War II breaks out, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear - including her beloved library. After the invasion, as the Nazis declare...