Salem, Massachusetts Police Detective Brian Rooney is returning from vacation at his childhood home on Nantucket Island, when he is called to the Salem Hospital to investigate the grizzly homicide of a legendary folksinger. The murder victim, Johnny Dwyer, appears to have lived a life of secrecy, shrouded in fear and addiction, masked by charm, wit and talent. He also leaves behind a twisted history that closely touches two of Vermont's leading citizens -- a dedicated female state senator who is a strident advocate for the mentally ill, and an iron-willed entrepreneur, whose control of Vermont's economic development for decades has left him cautiously admired, but with few friends. The ensuing investigation becomes an intriguing web of curious and colorful people who were touched by Dwyer and had reasons to wish him dead - an arrogant and foulmouthed real estate developer, an angry woodcutter, and a not so scrupulous business partner. Rooney enlists the help of Dwyer's sister, a world-class athlete with whom he later becomes romantically linked. He also befriends Peter Wilson, a former Vermont state trooper, who is haunted by his painful memories as a cop which he attempts to erase daily with alcohol and pills. Wilson leads Rooney through the details of an unsolved bank robbery committed three decades ago. Wilson is called to reopen the investigation and has a growing suspicion that the 1963 robbery is linked to Dwyer's murder. Set primarily in the mountains of Southern Vermont and on the north shore of Massachusetts, the story elements converge with a visit to Vermont of the wife of the Vice President of the United States, leading to an explosive conclusion that cannot be predicted.