Professional genealogist Lonnie Briggs is the great granddaughter of a legendary evangelist, and admits to having issues with all organized religions. She lives in rural, eastern North Carolina and earns her living searching out the family histories and heritages of others, while studiously avoiding her own. When she accepts what appears to be a simple biographical research project from local attorney Brice Norris, she finds herself confronting dark complexities of the human spirit that compel her to not only embrace her own heritage, but wield it like the sword of justice. The events unfold in fictitious Royston, North Carolina, where you can eat hoop cheese sandwiches at the pool room, the funeral home is located a respectful distance from the center of town, and murder lurks in the most unexpected places.