After corporate "restructuring" takes veteran journalist Dugan Heywood's newspaper job, he takes a temp gig as a church musician as a welcome change of pace from his old beat of crime and corruption.

When a former lover's sudden death makes him suspect murder but the police don't, Dugan must rely on his old investigative skills to find answers on his own.

His digging soon upsets some of the rich and powerful in his staid old university town. Does a scandal that once tore the town apart also lie at the heart of this new mystery? And are those powerful forces willing to commit murder to keep their dark secrets from surfacing again?