At a summons from detective sergeant Frank Malloy, midwife Sarah Brandt arrives at the elegant home of famed magnetic healer Edmund Blackwell to find his wife in labor-and the good doctor dead from an apparent suicide. Only Malloy sees what no one else wants to: that Blackwell was murdered in his own home. After a successful delivery, the Blackwell baby falls mysteriously ill. Relying on her nurse's training and woman's intuition, Sarah discovers the source of the baby's sickness and uncovers a scandal that leads Malloy's investigation down a gilded path paved with greed, deception, and desire.