Samantha Washington has dreamed of owning her own mystery bookstore for as long as she can remember. Now that she's preparing for her store's grand opening, she's also realizing another dream-penning a cozy mystery that's set in England between the wars. While Samantha hires employees and fills the shelves, her pen has quick-witted Lady Penelope Marsh, long-overshadowed by her beautiful sister Daphne, refusing to lose the besotted Victor Carlston to her sibling's charms and stepping in to solve the murder of one of Daphne's other suitors...
But as Samantha indulges her imagination, the unimaginable happens in real life. A shady realtor turns up dead in her backyard, and the police suspect her-after all, the owner of a mystery bookstore might know a thing or two about murder, right? Aided by her feisty grandmother and an ensemble of colorful retirees, Samantha is determined to close the case before her store opens. But will she live to conclude her story now that the killer has a revised ending in mind for her?