Sheriff John Sprenkel has only lived in Concordia Parish, Louisiana for six years and has never had to investigate a murder. . . until now. The badly beaten body of a young woman dumped beside the banks of the Mississippi River offers few clues, but when he searches for answers, all he finds are more questions. Was the young woman Harriet Van Dorn, graduate student in Natchez, Mississippi, or Madeleine D'Anjou, streetwalker in New Orleans?

Sprenkel isn't the only person who wants to find the truth. Jill Winston, Harriet's roommate, finds the investigation more compelling than her graduate work, and is intrigued by hard-working Sheriff Sprenkel. But their investigations lead to a dangerous plot dreamed up by a madman—one that could lead to disaster for everyone living along the Mississippi River!