In the stately nineteenth-century homes on Philadelphia's Delancy Street, the wilder passions scarcely ruffle the peace. Murder is unimaginable, particularly a murder involving an upscale book discussion group, of which schoolteacher Amanda Pepper is a devoted member.

Nevertheless, on the day after a heated discussion of a fictional heroine's suicide, book group member Helen Coulter falls to her death from her roof garden. Helen's death is declared a suicide--a shocking end to a perfect life--but Amanda is skeptical. In the course of recording the group's memories of Helen, inconsistencies and questions arise--and Amanda becomes convinced that Helen Coulter did not take her own life.

Why is this admirable woman dead? And if she was killed, who performed the heinous act? Helen's life was not an open book, but somewhere among its startling subplots Amanda believes she'll find the answers. Amanda's investigations will draw her into a zone of great danger, where Helen Coulter's ice-hearted killer is once more ready to strike.