Ellie spent twenty-five years protecting the past. She never imagined she’d have to protect her own future.

Ellie Harper has lived a careful life. She raised her daughter alone, built a steady career as an archivist at Ashbourne Library in Providence, and found comfort in knowing exactly where everything belongs.

But as her daughter prepares for a glittering Boston wedding, Ellie receives news that shakes her foundations: the library’s rare collections are being transferred to a state archive. Her role will soon be obsolete.

Then valuable books begin to vanish.

At first, the losses look like clerical errors. Misfiled boxes. Simple mistakes during a rushed transfer. But Ellie knows better. As she quietly investigates, she begins to suspect the thief is someone inside the building.

With every co-worker potentially in the frame, Ellie sets a careful trap to flush out the culprit. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more unstable her own position becomes.

Because when trust erodes, it doesn’t just take books with it. It threatens career-long friendships and everything she’s built.

Set between Providence and Boston, this emotionally rich prequel reveals the mystery that changes Ellie’s life forever and sends her north to a small coastal town in Maine, where a bookshop and an uncertain new beginning await.

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