A year ago, accusations of an affair with a pupil cost Mark Bradley his teaching job. Now the student's sister has been found dead, and Mark faces a hostile town convinced of his guilt. Hilary Bradley is determined to protect her husband, but digging into the girl's secrets proves dangerous. Her only ally is a quirky Florida detective named Cab Bolton. As the facts emerge about the murdered girl's past, Cab's suspicion grows that others are involved in her death. But there are people willing to kill to keep the truth hidden - and to make sure Mark pays the ultimate price for a young girl's murder. Hilary and Cab are both outsiders in a place that doesn't trust strangers and they're running out of time to find out what's buried in the ashes of the past.