Based on several of the "Molly; An American Girl" books, this story is set in 1943 in the fictional town of Jefferson, Illinois during World War II. Molly McIntire and her family are learning to cope with the changes the war has brought to their close-knit family. Molly misses her father who went overseas to care for the wounded soldiers. As they try to keep things running smoothly, Molly enters a dance contest at school. She and her friends are lively, outgoing and always bursting with ideas. Also during this time a young girl named Emily comes from London England to live with the family and Molly learns the importance of getting along and pulling together.

Small-town detective Noah Cordin is called to solve a juvenile homicide that occurred during a home burglary in his affluent town of Hilliard. The dead boy's mother, Allison Connor, is a member of the Meskada County Board of Commissioners, and a powerful woman in Hilliard; and the entire township rallies together in solidarity - to support her and Detective Cordin's efforts to find the killers.

Thomas Craven is a detective who has spent years working the streets of Boston. When his own daughter is killed outside his own home, Craven soon realizes that her death is only one piece of an intriguing puzzle filled with corruption and conspiracy, and it falls to him to discover who is behind the crime.

Early in 1971, McGraw-Hill passes on Clifford Irving's new novel. He's desperate for money, so, against the backdrop of Nixon's reelection calculations, Irving claims he has Howard Hughes's cooperation to write Hughes's autobiography. With the help of friend Dick Suskind, Irving does research, lucks into a manuscript written by a long-time Hughes associate, and plays on corporate greed. He's quick-thinking and outrageously bold. Plus, he banks on Hughes's reluctance to enter the public eye. At the same time, he's trying to rebuild his marriage and deflect the allure of his one-time mistress, Nina Van Pallandt. Can he write a good book, take the money, and pull off the hoax?