In 1900, sharpshooter Annie Oakley, "the most famous woman in the world" still performs with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, but when the touring season is over, she lives a quiet life in bucolic Nutley, New Jersey. Childless, Annie has a special interest in orphans, and she's developed a close mentoring relationship with a young girl named Lizzy Miller.
One day, Lizzy sees the town librarian fall to her death from the Centre Bridge. When Annie arrives, she's suspicious that the death is not an accident, and her suspicions are further heightened by the mysterious appearance of a seventeen-year-old boy who's been loitering around the librarian's house. When the local sheriff is called out of town, he asks Annie to look into the mysteries, and she begins "detectivizing" with the help of young Lizzie.
Who is the strange young boy? Where did he come from?
What other town secrets will lead to yet another murder?
Will Annie have to use her Marlin '91?