With a long hot summer ahead, Ellen Fremedon decides that she is going to write a book -- a long one, with chapters. She doesn't need to look far to find characters. The tiny village of Partridge Cove is full of interesting personalities. The budding novelist has characters galore, but what about a plot? With the help of her best friend, Jenny, Ellen soon realizes that there's plenty of mystery and intrigue in Partridge Cove as well. Why have the loathsome new neighbors bought the big house next door? And who will benefit from the housing development that's to be built right on top of the town's aquifer? Then, just as Ellen's story gets going, her novel must take a back seat to real life, when her twin brothers disappear, and things suddenly become very complicated, and very personal.