When a mother and daughter are murdered nearly a decade apart and under extremely similar circumstances, the rural town of Edgewater, Mississippi is rife with speculation. Tongues wag and fingers point. Suspicions fall squarely on Luke Wilder, town outcast and purported Satanist. Though acquitted of the earlier crime, he's now facing the rap for the latest killing. Kipling Sullivan, Edgewater's newest resident, isn't quite so convinced. Using her (dubious) investigatory skills and her (equally suspect) wits she sets out to find the truth.