The life of Frankie Quinn and those around her have changed vastly over the past year, ever since her stepmother, high school teacher Megan Quinn, who happened to be her former English teacher, was convicted of being the serial killer behind what were initially deemed six accidental and unrelated deaths primarily of Megan's associates in their hometown of St. Benedict, MN just outside of the twin cities. That conviction led to three people resigning from the SBPD including Jim Quinn, Frankie's father and Megan's husband, as Chief, his best friend Det. Bill Duncan who was discovered to have been providing Megan with official SBPD information for the serial killer investigation, and Frankie herself who was a forensics specialist and is now heading her own one person private investigation firm. She is now engaged to her high school sweetheart, successful writer Carl Wiseman, who returned to St. Benedict to cover the murder trial of who was his former teacher. At the time, Frankie was in a secret relationship with Det. Wynton Rousseau, Carl's return which directly led to Wyn breaking up with her, although Frankie denies that anything at that time was going on between her and Carl. Wyn and Frankie, who led the investigation into the murders, believed the closure in discovering the perpetrator, even if it was Frankie's stepmother, would strengthen their personal relationship, which was far from the case. Frankie's life is now further upended when she discovers Carl's murdered body, she who feels compelled to investigate even if she wasn't "hired" by Carl's sister, Sheryl Wiseman. Wyn and his current partner, Det. Beatrice Knudsen, lead the investigation for the SBPD, they who are concurrently leading what has been coined the Sandman case, nighttime home invasions when the owners are home unexpectedly asleep. While expensive items are stolen, the unusual aspect of the Sandman case is that personal photographs are also stolen. As they follow the leads in Carl's murder, including investigating three primary suspects - Carl's ex-wife, heiress Kara McRae, who runs her own foundation, Carl's recently fired agent Pam Gelbaum, and Carl's former writing protégé Christopher Bell, who may all have some sort of grudge - Frankie and Wyn have to address the feelings each still has for the other and the disconnect on the two sides concerning their break-up.