Still dealing with the events following the death of his love, Malcolm Connally reluctantly takes on a new case at the behest of a former classmate. Holt McCoy is a Nebraska native who made it big as an actor in Hollywood and is looking to launch his own production company with a controversial new film about a fringe religion in the heart of his home state. But when one of his researchers turns up dead while on location, he smells a cover up and asks his old friend, Mac Connally to find out the truth. When Mac arrives in the seemingly idyllic community of New Galilee, he finds that his every move is the subject of local gossip and that the local sheriff's department is less than welcoming. He finds allies in a spunky female police detective and a Catholic priest while bumping heads with a local street gang and the head of the mysterious religious sect.