In the small east Ohio town of Armitage, in the year 1898, Arthur Wolf, the sullen and cranky owner of Love's General Store, is found shot to death there in the middle of the night, and the town lawyer, Matt Armitage, has until dawn to convince the stupid and corrupt town sheriff that Vonnie Wolf, Arthur's daughter, who was found covered in his blood, did not murder him. But Vonnie is not being much help to him. She's beautiful, brilliant, a stunning young actress who's just been enchanting playing Juliet at the Odessa Theatre in town, and she is known to have had a very difficult relationship with her father. It's clear that she's hiding something, but Matt can't figure out what it is. In the course of a harried night, he must desperately interrogate Vonnie, her brother Jonas, her rich and cynical uncle Harry MacBeth, and her allegedly simpleminded sister Nancy, each of whom seems to have something to hide, and in the course of the play we see them and the dead man, Arthur, and his wife Evangeline, who may herself have been murdered, in the months leading up to Arthur's demise. Gradually, piece by piece, along with Matt, we put together the puzzle of what happened and why. This mystery is completely absorbing, often darkly funny, and keeps you guessing right to the end.