A Small Case of Murder is set in the quaint town of Chester, West Virginia, where everyone knows everyone, and there is never a secret that someone doesn't know. In such a small intimate village, how many disappearances can be left unquestioned? Following the death of his wife, Joshua Thornton moves into his ancestral home across country with his five children. While clearing out the attic, the children find a 34-year-old letter to their grandmother that implicates a local minister in an unreported murder.

High school cheerleader Tricia Wheeler didn't make it to her graduation because a bullet went through her heart and killed her. Twenty years later, a journalist is investigating Tricia's supposed suicide for a book. Suddenly, a second cheerleader is dead and the body count in the small West Virginia town continues to rise. For Joshua Thornton, the case is personal. The reopening of the Wheeler case stirs up memories and feelings for a girl who died without knowing his true feelings for her.