Dr. Rebecca Butterman is a clinical psychologist and moonlights as Dr. Aster, an advice columnist for Bloom! as the online magazine's expert on heartbreak and love. She is also a member of the Shoreline Congregational Church in Guilford, Connecticut.

Rebecca receives a phone call in the middle of the night from Reverend Wesley Sandifer with the news of the suspicious death of Lacy Bailes. Lacy chaired the search committee which was currently in the process of choosing a new assistant minister. It appears Lacy had been poisoned. But by who? And why? Was Lacy's death really related to the search committee? This seemed absurd, unless there was some crucial piece of information missing.

Reverend Wesley wants Rebecca to take Lacy's place on the search committee. Detective Jack Meigs wants Rebecca to join the committee too in hopes she will pick up some useful information about Lacy from the "inner circle" which will help in the murder investigation. Rebecca has worked with Detective Meigs in the past and has somewhat of a crush on him, but he's a married man whose wife is deathly ill with ALS. So Rebecca is forced to look for love elsewhere.

There is an accident at the Chruch which turns out to not be much of an accident at all and leaves Paul Cashman, one of the two candidates being considered for the position of assistant minister, with a concussion. Rebecca is shot at when she goes to retrieve her mail.

Rebecca promises Meigs she won't try to solve anything besides the mystery of why five people can't agree on a minister. But can she keep that promise?

Paul Cashman's hiding something but Rebecca doesn't know what. Reverend Wesley is acting strange and why did the former minister leave the church is such a hurry? Will Rebecca be able to figure out what's going on and who the murderer is before the next bullet flies her way?