From its humble beginnings as a Revolutionary War officer's knife, the Gloucester Dagger was later conscripted into service for more macabre roles. This included the ritualistic removal of hearts from the undead, at a time when New England was plagued by tuberculosis, and even learned men and women ascribed superstition to undiscovered medical conditions. And then, one hundred years apart, it was used to murder the unsuspecting innocent on both the centennial and bi-centennial celebrations of the quaint fishing village.
Today, the Dagger lies safely secured in a locked case in the town's Historical Society's Museum, surrounded by documents commemorating centuries of fact and folklore. But that is all about to change as the town's tri-centennial anniversary draws near, and the Dagger is stolen.
When high school senior, Audra St. John Smythe, unwittingly discovers a mysterious two-hundred-year-old poem that is inexplicably linked to the legendary Gloucester Dagger and promises to fulfil her deepest desire, she ignites a chain of events that lead to murder.
An unlikely ensemble that includes a police detective, a newspaper reporter and a renowned psychic medium join forces to solve this mystery. They are aided by those spirits, long dead and haunted by the Dagger's grisly past, that reach through the veil to warn that evil seeks its next victim.
