There are three essential motives for murder: power, money, and love gone wrong. The disappearance of Georgia Murphy combines all three. Her case has been cold for two years, and powerful townspeople want to keep it that way. They can't afford a scandal in the rural town, not when new industrial development is set to line their pockets. As former detective "Chig" Ashe soon discovers, probing into Georgia's case will destroy any hope of a peaceful retirement in his hometown. Even the woman he falls in love with seems to have her hands deep into the town's misinformation campaign, and in the violent and deadly attempts to keep him from exposing their secret. They will stop at nothing to stop him, but he will stop at nothing to uncover the cold, dark, and silent truth.