After performing a daring rescue of a fellow quilter during a robbery at a Walmart in Paducah, Kentucky, also known as Quilt City, journalist and mayoral candidate Hadley Carroll vows to bring the perpetrators to justice after the heist turns tragic.

Then, a seemingly unrelated murder and two ominous messages cause Hadley to ask the staff at Paducah Pulse, her weekly newspaper, to find answers. Amid the turmoil, Hadley and Detective Brandon Green finally enjoy their first date at Barbecue on the River, the city's largest annual event, only for mayhem to disrupt the festivities.

Now, employing the diligence and perceptiveness that helped her solve the Quilt City murders, Hadley investigates the killings that follow, connecting the invisible dots. As Paducah panics, the Pulse staff sheds light on a wide-ranging conspiracy. Hadley tangles with her nemesis and mayoral opponent, Nick Stoddard, and endures various threats. But she's determined to solve the crimes and to nurture her budding relationship with Brandon. At least that's her plan.