"Darcy Cotterill, 30 and divorced, works at the Nantucket library during the day. She spends most nights in her backyard, gazing at the stars. She's on the brink of starting a relationship with a local carpenter, Nash, when she gets new neighbors for the summer, the most unexpected of whom are her ex-husband, his new wife, and step-daughter. As Darcy is drawn into the lives of her neighbors, she develops a crush on another vacationer, Clive, a musicologist...

"This summer, meet your neighbors. The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road are entangled in a web of secrets and scandal utterly unknown to the outside world, and even to each other. On the night of the annual Summer block party, there has been a murder. But, who did it and why takes readers back one year earlier, as rivalries and betrayals unfold-discovering that the real danger lies within their own block and nothing-and no one-is...

In Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865, ten-year-old Eli and other newly freed slaves gather to honor the memory of fallen Union soldiers, an event considered to be one of the first celebrations of what is now called Memorial Day. Includes author's note.