The first body that turns up in Farway, a secluded town on the planet Denebola, is from out of town. When the Denebola Bureau of Investigation and the legate's office from half a planet away decide to help identify the murder victim, Sheriff Hank Ketchum knows he's in over his head. Enter the infamous detective Jack Ramsey. With the help of the talented and beautiful local medical examiner Amanda Slade, Ramsey digs into the case and discovers evidence that puts Farway at the heart of a conspiracy. But who's the greater threat - the Clans, the Word of Blake, or the legate's intelligence operative?