"It's another Fourth of July in Dacus, South Carolina, and the carnival fright house isn't impressing Avery's seven-year-old niece, Emma. That is, until the leg falls off a mannequin posed with a chainsaw. Then even Emma recognizes the human leg bone protruding from the wizened limb." "The next day, Avery joins her sister Lydia and her brother-in-law at a faculty picnic up on the mountain, but the festivities are interrupted when one of the faculty wives disappears off the waterfall." "Between the owners of the fright house wanting Avery to help them get reopened before they miss out on the holiday crowd, and the widower's new protective lady friend insisting that someone needs to be safeguarding his financial interests, Avery has her work cut out for her. She finds herself following the money as she pieces together a very cold case and a very cold-blooded murder."