In the small, conservative town of Arden, the most exciting thing that's happened in recent memory is the opening of a Shakespearean Festival. Until an early June morning in 1954, when the body of Betty Crawford is found floating face-down in the Avon River. Few mourn her passing. For the respectable citizens of Arden, Betty has been nothing but a source of gossip and scandal. Then the postmortem reveals that Betty died of gas poisoning, not drowning, and her death becomes a murder case that rocks the town. Local reporter Daniel Connor is drawn to Betty's case, and the tragic life that makes so many others turn away. Contending with a prickly relationship with Detective Inspector Joe Milverton, suspicions about a famous actor appearing at the Festival, and Betty's murky past is no easy task for Daniel. In what part of Betty's past does the answer to who killed her lie? Her days as an actress in London? Her role as a con woman preying on wealthy men in Toronto? Or the sexual abuse she suffered as a child? Time is ticking, and the quest for justice lies on Daniel's shoulders. Will he redeem Betty's memory? Or will the town only ever see her as the woman with nothing to lose?