The timing is perfect. Just when Sadie Speers learns that her pen pal Donelle’s church roof has collapsed, she comes across a stash of antiques in Campfire Chapel’s attic. Among the valuables are a gorgeous old leather Bible, notated with a series of cryptic markings, with a signed vintage menu from a Memphis, Tennessee, diner tucked inside. Sadie immediately sees the potential for selling the items to help her friend’s struggling Appalachian church. But when she tries to convince the congregation to allow her to do so, dissent among members breaks out about how the money should be used—which becomes a moot point when it is stolen.

As Sadie tries to recover the funds, she examines the old Bible more closely and becomes convinced that the markings hide an important message. But the coded text raises more questions than answers. Who owned the Bible? And how did it connect Silver Peak to Memphis at a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement?