San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright's friend Ian runs the Covington Library, which is hosting an exhibit featuring John James Audubon's massive masterpiece, Birds of America, currently on loan from an Arab sheik. During the gala celebrating the book, she is approached by Jared Mulrooney, the president of the National Birdwatchers Society, who urgently needs Brooklyn's skilled hands to repair a less high-profile book of Audubon drawings that's fallen victim to spilled wine. At the same party, Brooklyn is flying high after she's asked to refurbish and appraise a rare copy of Poor Richard's Almanac. But everything runs afoul later that evening when Mulrooney's body is discovered in the library. With danger beginning to circle Brooklyn's every move, it's clear she must find answers before things really go south.