Maggie decides she needs a break. Teaching high-school geometry has her burnt out, so she plans a week vacation at Highview Inn, a mountain resort in Maryland. The peaceful, idyllic surroundings are the perfect antidote and she looks forward to long days of playing tennis and swimming. But on her first day she discovers the body of a hotel employee in the woods. The young waitress was also a former student of hers and the murder disturbs Maggie in more ways than one. Unlike most math problem she encounters, this mystery has no easy answers. As the list of suspects gets longer she finds herself distrusting everyone. With clues from the girl s diary and inquiries into her suspects histories, Maggie moves closer to the truth. Then she learns of other puzzling suicides and accidental deaths in the resort s past which seem too coincidental to her. But the killer knows what she is up to and she will have to outwit this cold-blooded murderer or die trying.