Retired corruption investigator Charlie Eastman can't help it. He looks like a Texas Ranger and he's a magnet for everything he wants to avoid: Crazy people, dead people, people who kill people, love, and death. Set in West Texas today, two boys from different ethnic backgrounds unwittingly video their own murders on a river bottom during an ice storm. Lacking clues, a sheriff begs Eastman's help, but he declines, citing mental problems. Unfortunately, one of the wealthiest women in Texas, and a mysterious tattoo artist scam Eastman into searching for her brother whom she hasn't seen in decades. During the search, Eastman partners up with Doc Page, the red-haired town doctor who wields a terrible, swift tongue and smells of Noxzema cleansing cream, an aroma that drives him wild. A bizarre statue in the town square that locals call Gooberhenge, and a cockeyed promise Eastman makes atop a windmill, sets off an uncontrollable chain reaction of violence.