Horrified by the suspicious drowning death of her schizophrenic son, Diana exchanges e-mails with her brother that explore clues from ancient murders in order to build a case against Diana's husband, who never made peace with the boy's illness.
Returning home to his father's estate in 1954 Mississippi to take a job teaching at the local high school, Jack Branch befriends Eddie, one of his students and the son of a notorious local murderer, but his efforts on Eddie's behalf could have deadly consequences.