The Plank family moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join the small Amish community of Painters Mill less than a year ago and seemed the model of the Plain Life - until on a cold October night, the entire family of seven was found slaughtered on their farm. Police Chief Kate Burkholder - formerly Amish herself - is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from the English and one another, but this crime is horribly out of the ordinary.