Carolyn Haines delivers a tale of intrigue and suspense that exposes the darkest secrets of a small Southern town. Dixon Sinclair returns to the home of her forebears to find solace, stop drinking, and rebuild her life after her father's murder. As the new publisher of the weekly newspaper and a second-generation journalist, she's determined to ignite the political will of the townspeople and expose the corruption of the old guard. To achieve this, Dixon forms an uneasy partnership with Sheriff J.D Horton, another prodigal son hoping to find peace and a sense of fulfillment by keeping his town safe. Then two teenage girls disappear from a sandbar on the swift-moving Pascagoula River, and fears surface that an evil lurks in the depths of the swampland--an evil fueled by rage against betrayal and an insatiable desire for vengeance. Suspicion falls on a mysterious transient, a young man running from a violent past in the Catholic Church of Mexico. Yet Dixon and J.D. discover that many in Jexville have been betrayed, other innocents suffering the sins of the fathers. Now they must find out who is willing to kill for revenge.