In book 1 in the series, Shelby decides to clean out the second floor of the building where she finds discarded items from the owner of the garment factory. Amongst the treasures left behind is a journal that appears to have belonged to a man living in the area during the nineteen sixties and seventies.

Upon examination, Shelby determines that the journal may contain a secret message. The man who left the journal is long dead, so Shelby enlists the help of her staff, customers, local friends, and the ex-cop turned PI who uses a booth in the bar to meet customers, to help her solve the mystery.

Join Shelby, Amy, Nikki, and a lineup of new as well as familiar characters, as they try to solve what, to that point, had been the cold case of the century.