Ten years ago, Julie Wheeler embarked on a dream when she moved to Hearthstone, West Virginia. She purchased her own veterinary practice, married Richard-the town's most eligible bachelor and chief prosecuting attorney-and was lulled into marital bliss.

But when Nicole, her husband's assistant, mysteriously drops off her poisoned German Shepherd and disappears, the questions start. Where is Richard? Is he with Nicole? Why has Richard been coming home late all the time? Had she been too busy to notice?

As Julie raises her head from the ostrich hole, she realizes the world as she knew it has been disappearing as a poison has been eating away at her life. Sheriff Mack, their close friend, is despondent. His office is filled with unfamiliar faces including one particularly creepy Deputy Cruz who seems to be following her . . . and dating Julie's sister who is recovering from yet another failed relationship. And Jake, the new farmhand her husband hired two months ago. Up until now, she has hardly seen him, but on this day, he's everywhere.

Julie's desperate search for the truth lands her in jail accused of murder-which turns out to be the least of her problems. What is going on in Hearthstone? Is her husband faithful? Is he alive? Will Julie survive?

This first book in the West Virginia Series delivers an intensely packed thirty-six hours of suspense, drama, crime, family troubles, twists, and turns that keep readers turning pages to find the source of the poison that threatens Julie's very life.