Is murder ever justifiable? Falcon's Bend Police Department Investigator Pete Shasta's brother Jordan is recently divorced and intent on putting his life back together for himself and his daughter. Jordan discovers that people have moved into the house next door to him and one of them is MaryEmma Gold, who'd lived in the house he now owns when he was a boy. Jordan soon finds that his shy "Marigold" has become an even more withdrawn woman. MaryEmma's sister Shelley sleeps all day and parties all night.
Seeing bruises all over MaryEmma's arms, Jordan asks his brother to check into her past. Pete and his partner Danny Vincent discover that Shelley's husband died in a fire only a week before they came to Falcon's Bend. The women left their jobs and lives behind abruptly.
Meanwhile, Shelley's new boyfriend is found near the dam, bludgeoned to death. As they uncover murder in the form of a conspiracy, Pete and Danny can't help noticing that Shelley Wilson leaves a trail of dead men behind her wherever she goes...and Jordan may be next.
