Archeologist Faye and her 17-year-old adopted daughter, Amande, have a job to do in Rosebower, N.Y., a town with a history full of Spiritualists, religious reformers, and radical feminists. Not long after they've begun their work separating decades of donated junk at the local museum, Faye and Amande have a murder mystery on their hands.

Medium Tilda Armistead is the victim of arson, dying of smoke inhalation after escaping a fire set at her home, but in addition to the obvious question of whodunit, Faye must resolve the related one of why a dying agoraphobic who had traveled only a couple thousand miles since 1972 had driven thirty miles to ask a relative stranger for help. And what's a retired magician, known for debunking others' tricks, doing in town?