The Class Assignment is Murder

People are murdered everywhere. Hannah Stein, however, had been told that Parkerville, a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was an exception, a safe, peaceful place. In 2005 Hannah’s idyllic illusion was shattered when her neighbor, a teenage boy named Matthew Baker, killed his family and raped his cousin. Now, fourteen years later, Baker suddenly protests that he is innocent. Could this possibly be true? It is the summer of 2019, and Hannah, a Jewish English professor, is hunting for an unusual topic that will intrigue three apathetic students. Hannah suggests that her students join her and examine an old murder case that has haunted her for years. From their research, her students will glean material for their research papers, and Hannah hopes she will find answers to her nagging questions. But not everyone thinks this investigation is a good idea. Ethan, Hannah’s handsome neighbor, wants Hannah to stop meddling with the past and concentrate on him. However, Hannah, a widow in her forties, cannot abandon her probe just to please a man. As the inquiry into the Baker case proceeds, the violence swirling around Hannah and her students escalates, pulling them down dangerous paths. In addition, the Baker investigation resurrects dark childhood memories that cannot be ignored. When Hannah was five years old, she witnessed her mother’s murder but was unable to identify the killer. Hannah Stein never dreamed a simple class assignment would both uncover and generate so many murders.