One day fifteen-year-old Emily meets a handsome young man in the small town of Amherst. Not only does he not seem to know who Emily is (a welcome change), he won't tell her his name. Emily likes having a secret, and she enjoys her flirtation with 'Mr. Nobody.' But when Mr. Nobody turns up floating face down in her family's pond, Emily is stricken with guilt that she never found out his name. When she realises that Mr. Nobody is doomed to be buried in a potter's grave, Emily works to solve the mystery of who Mr. Nobody is and who killed him.