When 16 year-old Jimmy Lee Schuman loses his father to a mine-shaft collapse, he has to quit school and go to work to help support his mother and four younger siblings. Despite toiling at two menial jobs, he can't make ends meet until he learns about Sarah Simmons. This city lady from Baltimore has bought a ramshackle cabin and needs help restoring house and grounds. She takes a chance on Jimmy Lee, who soon proves his worth. Before long, she takes another chance, adopting an escaped dog who's been terribly abused. But three men-a banker, a pot-grower, and the county's best hunter-seem to have it in for Sarah. First her dog and then Sarah meet dreadful ends, and Jimmy Lee vows to bring their killer to justice. Eden Jones and Bethanne Swanson reappear from the previous volume in this West Virginia trilogy to help solve the crimes. But it's Jimmy Lee who learns what it means to fail and yet triumph when it comes to solving the mysterious deaths of loved ones.