Nothing ever happens in the tiny little town of Tipple Hill, West Virginia...until one awful day it does. Sunset House, an adult day center, which someone once referred to as The Pearly Gates Waiting Room, is an unlikely place for violent death. Who hated, or feared, a helpless old woman, already near the end of her life, enough to kill her? Is the motive greed or something much more complicated and sinister? Police officer, Maris King, a very inexperienced investigator, is determined to find out. It will be an uphill battle since the only experienced, seasoned member on the force is the Chief of Police, a retired big city cop, who for some unknown reason is giving very little help to his investigating officer. Maris soon discovers that the truly old and impaired are invisible people, dismissed out of hand by everyone. She realizes that listening to them...and to town gossip, is the only way she is going to solve the murder since the crime scene has been so contaminated there is absolutely no reliable physical evidence. As her investigation progresses, Maris learns someone is harboring a sixty-year old secret and an obsession. Ironically, a practice employed at the Center to make the members lives more enjoyable serves as a catalyst for the murder. Maris discovers that even in idyllic Tipple Hill there are dark secrets and that long ago events can come back to haunt and eventually destroy a carefully rebuilt life.