Ben Bones, Genealogical Consultant and self-described Articulator of Family Skeletons, has been hired by Amelia to help her adult children gain insight into their family history. It’s mother's mistaken hope that the knowledge will straighten out their messed up lives. Ben Bones is on the trail of genealogical truth once again, but what he fi nds isn't reassuring to either the alcoholic mother or her second husband, Arthur Ludlum, who happens to be her murdered husband's former business partner.There’s more, of course: Rome, Georgia’s Ice Pick Murders; the murders within the family; the missing town of Tulip; the hidden twin brother... and as usual, Ben Bones is caught right in the middle.