When a local university student is found dead in a patch of deadly nightshade, one of several illegal plants cultivated by beekeeper Gwen Woodleaf, Gwen turns to neighbor Ruth Willmarth for help. The dead young man had driven Gwen's mixed-race daughter, Donna, home from a party and suspicion points to both Donna's over protective father and a farmhand with an unrequited crush on the girl.

Plagued by anonymous threats and harassment by locals, Donna escapes deeper into a research paper on her roots. She shares secrets found in an old family diary with her sociology professor who gets a glimmer of the dark history lurking in this pastoral Vermont town. Her brutal murder leads Ruth to a shattering revelation about some of Branbury's oldest families and the discovery that hatred here runs deep enough to kill.