Reunions: something to look forward to, something to be afraid of. Police Chief Susan Wren was a relative newcomer to Hampstead, Kansas; fate had led her from her native San Francisco and put her down in this prairie town. When the news came that the governor would kick off his campaign for the presidential nomination with a homecoming rally in Hampstead, Susan was not surprised that it brought together not only old friends, but also old enemies. They had all known one another back when the world was a challenge; now the only one who still had stars in his eyes was the governor. One woman arrives intending to murder the governor; she blames him for a tragedy many years before. Another woman returns to town playing, not for the first time, with the idea of suicide. When a Hampstead woman is kidnapped, thrust into the trunk of a car and spirited away, Susan doesn't know whether the kidnapping is related to the governor, but she does know that it's the most urgent, at least at the moment, of her many concerns.

The governor's homecoming party is filled with anger, jealousy, and long-nursed animosities. In the cold, stormy days that follow, Susan encounters tougher challenges than ever before as the emotions build to a firestorm. Danger rises on every side, and in the center is Police Chief Susan Wren, desperately trying to tamp down the flames and hoping that no bodies will be discovered when the smoke finally drifts away.