Savannah Cade, wife of college art professor Peregrine Cade, is brutally murdered in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Grief-stricken and consumed by rage, Cade struggles to complete his fall term teaching duties and is placed on administrative leave. At the suggestion of his closest friend, Episcopal Rector Chester Raines, Cade accepts an invitation from Tredegar Prison, a medium security correctional facility near Sylva, to deliver a studio art course...