Rich with local atmosphere and an evocative sense of time and place, shot through with the lore and history of the steel guitar and North American roots country music, HIGHWAY IN THE BLOOD is at once a murder mystery, an adventure story, and a lyrical, poetic love song to the land and life of northern New England. In 1974, haunted by the murder of the woman he loves, Buck Hawkins leaves behind his life as an oil rig diver and honky-tonk steel guitar player along the Texas Gulf coast and returns to seek solace and healing in his rural Vermont hometown. Living alone on the old family farm and playing steel with a cowboy band on early morning radio, Buck begins to find the peaceful, idyllic New England life he's been yearning for. But there are distractions and complications: The nearby house of women, where dark-eyed artist Jessie and her roommates party themselves into deep trouble; Buck's old friend Luke, who has replaced his drug and alcohol addictions with an obsessive- and unlikely- quest for pirate treasure in a northern lake; Tom Desjardin, the hard-living, stock car-racing senator who funds the treasure hunt; An alluring reporter named LC Cordell, who seems to want more than only information from Buck. Caught up in his new troubles and haunted again by the return of old memories, Buck finds adventure-and a journey into the healing, spirit, and strength deep inside him. It's a strength he will need when he comes face to face with a killer.