Antiques appraiser Josie Prescott has moved to New Hampshire and opened her own business after she testified against her boss and spelled the end of her last position. With the new business prospering, she partners with the Portsmouth Women's Guild on a fund-raiser. The evening is going well until guild member Maisy Gaylor is poisoned. Who would want Maisy dead? Or was Josie the intended victim?

Josie investigates, bumping heads with police detective Rowcliff and wondering if her old boss, recently released from prison, is out to even the score. Then a valuable "Birds and Flowers" tureen is stolen and a fake substituted, threatening Josie's reputation in the antiques community. While the brusque detective Rowcliff is a rather stereotypical cop, Josie is a multifaceted, vulnerable character who is trying to start a new life and a new romantic relationship. The story is framed with details of the antiques business, and numerous well-developed secondary characters populate the book, the second in a series.