Jack Hennessey is a highly decorated, former homicide detective who had a long, successful career. Yet in retirement, Hennessey is consumed by needless guilt, believing he had betrayed his best friend in a botched murder investigation. When the mangled body of a woman is found tangled in the rocks around Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, Jack sees finding her killer as a chance for redemption.

He discovers what seems to be the robbery of a priceless ruby brooch gone wrong is far more than simple homicide. The victim is African American, and her death leads Jack into a dangerous world of deep racial divides connected to slavery issues of America's past and bigotry of its present. Along the way, he meets the dark underbelly of resistance and the seedy realm of organized crime.

The novel draws upon actual historical events and contemporary conflicts to frame the world of murder and betrayal Hennessey must negotiate.