When the body of controversial talk-show host Walton Weeks is discovered hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Paradise, police chief Jesse Stone finds himself at the centre of a highly public case, forcing him to deal with small-minded local officials and national media scrutiny. When another dead body - that of a young woman - is found just two days later, the pressure becomes almost unbearable. Two victims in less than a week should provide a host of clues, but all Jesse runs into are dead ends...