Ghostwriter Carissa Blackwood is having the worst year of her life. After leaving her cheating husband, she finally takes up the offer to help her two eccentric aunts manage the Blackwood Bed 'n' Breakfast Inn in Pelican Point, California-a house they only recently inherited from their deceased father, Bram Blackwood. The old man dabbled in the occult, and his daughters haven't fallen far from the family tree. Aunt Runa is into crystals and plans to hold séances at the reportedly "haunted" house. Aunt Hazel has an herbiary and offers herbal cures for everything from headaches to paranormal visions. But it's Hazel's poison garden that really concerns Carissa.

When one of the townspeople dies from a poison that could have only come from Aunt Hazel's garden, the town is quick to point fingers. It doesn't help that one of Aunt Runa's charms is found at the scene of the crime. With a little help from Noah, the mysterious and handsome handyman, Aiden, the charming newspaperman--and the ghost of Carissa's grandfather--it's up to Carissa to clear her aunts and find the real killer before someone else is checked out for good at the B&B.