Grace Farrington is considered a genius in her field, so it is not surprising that when doing some special DNA sleuthing she discovers a convoluted motive for murder (as she attempts to desecrate a body). Her life suffers further complications when her new age friend Freya involves her in a seance that triggers a desperate search for a lost Revolutionary War ransom. Of course no one has found the treasure in over two hundred years, but they didn't have Grace's skill at reading the secrets of Colonial DNA. Distracting entanglements are the three men on her romantic horizon: rough edged fellow scientist Kurt MacKay; old moneyed David Gardiner; and a new billionaire, the handsome Jack Stuart, who arrives in the New England town of Oyster River Harbor with an intense interest in both her research and her body. Grace is determined to keep her mind on mitochondria, even as Kurt is attacked by a local fisherman. But when her sometime lover is accused of murder, Grace has to act, only to find out too late that the next targeted victim is herself!