Synopsis

Off-duty Chief Detective Joe Cooper is only months away from retirement when he’s gunned down during a bank raid. Nora, his wife of thirty years, is devastated but there’s another blow to come. She learns that shortly before his death he sold their newly purchased cottage in Martha’s Vineyard. This was to be their dream home, where they could play Scrabble with their grandchildren and watch them swim in the pool they planned to build.

Now Nora doesn’t know what to think. Did Joe really sell their cottage without telling her? How could he do that to her, and why? For daughter Meg, who has recently divorced her cheating husband, it’s yet another betrayal by a man. And given that her new suitor, Mike, appears to have an ulterior motive in getting to know her – well, it’s enough to destroy her faith in them entirely.

Nora is tormented by grief and doubt, but suddenly she receives mysterious and inexplicable messages written out in Scrabble letters. And only Joe could have written them. Is he sending her messages from the afterlife? Are they warnings?

Supported by old friend Steve, and new ones she makes after her bereavement, Nora has to dredge up strength she never knew she had to get herself and her daughter through this difficult – and dangerous – time. She has to open her mind to discover not only the truth about Joe, but also about life and its mysteries too.