Years ago, after his father's execution, Daikai Whitely returns to Valemont to investigate a string of murders echoing The Artisan's brutal and symbolic style. The local police are spooked. The FBI suspects a copycat, but Daikai isn't so sure. The details are too precise-things never made public. This return to Valemont rips open old wounds: the stares, the suspicion, the memories of growing up in a house where love was conditional and blood was currency. But worse still, he comes face to face with Raymond Salazar, now a popular investigative journalist covering the case. Their reunion is strained, charged with unresolved feelings and bitter history. To aid in the case, Daikai is partnered with Elias Vance, a fresh transfer with an uncanny talent for reading people. Elias is calm where Daikai is tense, and the more they work together, the more Daikai begins to realize Elias is hiding trauma of his own. As the trio navigates the twisting maze of deceit, Daikai begins to unravel not just the identity of the new killer, but the terrifying possibility that his father may have orchestrated all of this from beyond the grave-and Daikai might have played a part without knowing.