An unsolved murder, bracketed by grief and abuse. Can there be justice, and what will it look like?

Forty years ago, a farmer was murdered near an abandoned village the locals call Grabtown. Police never found his killer.

When twin sisters Cassie and Ana return to their rural childhood home in Winslow, Connecticut, to grieve their mother's death and settle her affairs, they discover something unexpected among her belongings: the draft of a murder mystery, written by their mother's longtime girlfriend, AJ. The manuscript begins with the Grabtown killing—and features their mother as a key character.

Cassie, a frustrated writer estranged from her family and stuck in an isolating marriage, sees an opportunity. Ana, fearful of what they might learn, wants to destroy it. As Cassie digs deeper, uncovering a disturbing trail of abuse that winds back through their family and town, she questions the truth of AJ's story. Is it fiction—or a confession?

When Cassie's mercurial husband tells her to stop digging and a retired detective arrives with new questions about the old murder, she realizes someone believes the old story is true. And they'll do anything to keep their secrets.

Set in an authentic New England mill town, this multigenerational thriller weaves between 1985 and today as it explores themes of family secrets, unshakable loyalty, and a mother's courage in the face of chilling abuse.