With his cop life officially behind him, Thumps now makes his living as a fine-arts photographer in Chinook — a western town snuggled up against a reservation that's struggling for economic independence via investment in a glitzy new resort and casino complex called Buffalo Mountain. It's a slow-paced, good life for Thumps and his eccentric cat, Freeway. Most of the time. But when a dead body turns up in one of the just-completed luxury condos, things change fast — and not for the better. Photographing corpses is not part of Thumps's master plan.