County prosecutor Bell Elkins and Sheriff Nick Fogelsong are stymied by a murderer who seems to come and go like smoke on the mountain. At the same time, Bell must deal with the return from prison of her sister, Shirley--who, like Bell, carries the indelible scars of a savage past. We also meet Lindy Crabtree--a coal miner's daughter with dark secrets of her own, secrets that threaten to explode into even more violence