The discovery of a set of black-and-white photograph negatives has sent Annie Dawson searching for answers to why they were secreted away behind the portrait of her grandparents ... The negatives hearken back to the heyday of the jazz scene in New York City in the late 1940s. Obviously of professional quality, the negatives lead Annie down a mysterious pathway as she and her friends from the Hook and Needle Club track down how Annie's grandparents are connected. The biggest question Annie wants answered is, who is the beautiful vocalist pictured amongst some of the great names of jazz? Annie is drawn to the images of Asta, a sultry blonde who seems to have dropped completely from sight before her career had a chance to blossom. Coincidentally, Mary Beth Brock, the owner of A Stitch in Time (the local needlecraft shop where weekly Hood and Needle Club meetings are held) asks Annie, Alice MacFarlane, and Kate Stevens to attend a needlecraft conference in the Big Apple. The trio tackle the conference hall by day while tracking down clues by night. The pursuit leads them to a jazz club where Kate is attracted to the handsome trumpeter, Cole Cutchins. Then the mystery takes a sinister turn when Annie is accosted while stopping off a subway.