It's Summer, 1939, and news of the growing war in Europe is on the mind of every American. Closer to home, the Carmel City Council is weighing the unpopular action of firing two seasoned police officers in an effort to balance the city budget. Nora Finnegan, a feature writer for The Carmel Pine Cone, is also coping with the daily challenges of the economy and her family duties as a wife and mother. When the troubled administrator of her son's school becomes the victim of a vicious attack during an early morning home invasion, Nora decides to get involved. Soon it becomes clear that plans are afoot to shutter the private Forest Hill School and turn it into a for-profit psychiatric clinic. Teaming up with Neal Butler, the new cop on the Carmel beat, Nora is determined to discover the identity of the guilty party. Can they find and arrest the criminal intruder before matters get worse?