When the body of a local writer is found by the steps of the public library, police focus on the library staff. Senior librarian Greer McCallister is soon high on their list of persons of interest. Greer is an unlikely murder suspect, a quiet, dependable employee of almost twenty years. Recently, however, her life has changed: having at last found the courage to leave her overbearing husband, she is finding life as a single woman bewilderingly complex. A precipitous affair shakes her sense of identity and ultimately her grip on reality. The investigating officer points out that many aspects of the case lead back to her, and she is terrified that she is in some way responsible for the tragedy.