Dave Robicheaux has spent his life confronting the age-old adage that the sins of the father pass on to the sons. But what was his mother's legacy? Why did she leave him to the devices of a whiskey-driven father? While helping a friend, Dave receives information regarding his mother's death at the hands of several cops. His search for his mother's killers leads Dave to the darker places in his past, and solving the case teaches him what it means to be his mother's son.