Phoebe Hall’s New York life is unexpectedly derailed off the fast track when her long-term boyfriend leaves just as she is accused of plagiarizing her latest bestselling celebrity biography. Looking for a quiet place to pick up the pieces, Phoebe jumps at the offer to teach at a small private college in a rustic Pennsylvania town run by her former boarding school roommate and close friend, Glenda Johnson.

But the campus’s quaint cafes and looming maple trees belie evil happenings. The body of a junior girl washes up from the nearby river, and soon hidden secrets begin to surface among the students: rumors of past crimes and abuses wrought by a mythic secret society known as The Sixes.

Determined to find answers and help Glenda, Phoebe quietly embarks on a search for clues-a quest that soon raises dark memories of her own boarding school days. Plunging deeper into danger with every step, Phoebe knows she’s close to unmasking a killer. But with truth comes a deeply terrifying revelation: the past can’t be outrun … and starting over can be a crime punishable by death.