Anna Winger knows people better than they know themselves with only a glance—at their handwriting. Hired by companies seeking trustworthy employees and by the lovelorn hoping to find happiness, Anna likes to keep the real mess of other people’s lives at arm’s length and on paper. But when she is called to use her expertise on a ransom note left behind at a murder scene in the small town she and her son have recently moved to, the crime inevitably gets under Anna’s skin. 

The local sheriff wants no part of Anna’s brand of hocus pocus, but he’ll do whatever it takes to bring his community back under control. Anna is able to discern from the note that no one in the little boy’s family has been safe for a long time. Bringing him home could be the right thing to do, or it could be the worst possible outcome. To solve the mystery, save her son—and herself, once and for all—Anna will face her every fear, her every mistake, and the past she thought she’d rewritten.