In a driving rain in the woods outside of Buckskin, while searching for his daughter and her two friends, Mitch Bushyhead finds the carcass of an illegally killed bald eagle and a dead man. Sure that the murdered man, a young game warden, was killed by the same person who shot the eagle with an arrow, Mitch eventually focuses his attention on Vian Bradfield. An otherwise respected high-school principal, Bradfield was known to be the supplier of eagle feathers for traditional dances that were growing more popular as men like Vian discovered their Cherokee roots. But for Mitch, the investigation immediately takes a bizarre turn. Even through Vian has been spotted at a gathering of masked dancers, he cannot be found for questioning. With the disappearance of his only suspect, Bushyhead's investigation must delve into Vian's life and a swirl of small-town intrigues around it. From an unhappy marriage to an unhinged old-timer who is making a one-man stand against the United States government, the frayed edges of Buckskin society are revealing to Mitch a host of lies and secrets. And while he struggles to raise a daughter on his own, and to make a fledgling relationship with a woman doctor succeed, Mitch is determined not just to catch a killer, but to unmask a wrong hidden deep in Buckskin's heart.