Anne Loveday, a surgeon’s daughter, is determined to live a single, useful life. To escape her matchmaking stepmother, she accepts an invitation from an old friend to return to Painswick, the place where she and her sister spent many happy summers until that last, fateful year.

Soon after arriving, Anne is asked to serve as sickroom nurse to Lady Celia, who forbade her nephew to marry Anne’s sister years before. Pushing aside resentments, Anne moves into Painswick Court, a shadowy old house rumored to be haunted. Also in residence are Lady Celia’s spinster daughter, her handsome adult nephews, and a secretive new lady’s maid. Two local doctors visit regularly as well, one of whom admires Anne while concealing secrets of his own.

As an escalating series of mishaps befalls her patient, Anne realizes someone is trying to kill the woman. But who? When Anne finds herself a suspect and her resolution to avoid romance challenged, can she discover the real culprit–and protect her heart–before it’s too late?