Alex Johnson has a task he would rather not perform. He is to carry his grandfather's ashes from Ontario to the old family homestead in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, find the family cemetery, and place the ashes there.

On his way, Alex acquires an unexpected sidekick, and when he reaches the Valley, there are complications he could never have anticipated. There are possible allies and certain rivals to navigate, and the chance for a more complete life than anything Alex had imagined before he set off on his journey.

By turns hilarious, tense, and touching, Dan Johnson's Ashes is a fitting completion of the family saga begun in The Secret of the Spring.