After a devastating experience as an investigative reporter for a large Chicago newspaper, Meg Smyth took a leave of absence and moved, temporarily, into a lakeside cottage in the village of Bramble. She found she enjoyed the slow pace and friendliness of the town and her neighbors in "Cottage Row," so when the paper offered her the position of "Miss Polly," syndicated advice columnist, she accepted. She filed articles from the laptop on her kitchen table and put down roots. No more investigation for her--until murder came to Bramble