When a living history museum turns deadly, an armchair historian must transform herself into a woman of action. It's the week before Thanksgiving, and history book author, Miranda Lewis, has deadlines to meet. But when a check-in call to her eighteen-year-old niece, Caroline, ends in tears and a hang up, Miranda rushes to Plimoth Plantation, where Caroline works as an interpreter, portraying a Pilgrim woman.
At the recreated seventeenth-century Pilgrim village in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Miranda encounters protesting Indians, quarrelsome Pilgrims, and finally a grisly murder. Overheard arguing with the victim the night before, Caroline is a suspect in the killing. Determined to clear Caroline's name, Miranda delves into the present-day lives of the interpreters, including the victim himself. Her quest for the truth also leads her to explore the history of the often troubled relations between the white settlers and the Native peoples. In the end, she finds herself face-to-face with a killer who will stop at nothing to conceal his crime.