Small-town chief of police Mitch Bushyhead returns in a case of murder, secrecy, and ancient tribal ritual. 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 Brasfield. An otherwise respected high-school principal, Brasfield 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 though 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. 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.