When the mutilated body of a beautiful and popular recent graduate of Clarion University is discovered in a desolate canyon, the nearby rural community of Chuma fears that the killer still lurks among them.

Ardis Jensen, a forensic psychologist turned campus counselor, horrified at the student's brutal murder and troubled that another student might be the killer, becomes deeply embroiled in the investigation.

As searing, late summer winds swirl through the orchards, Ardis and Detective Larry Hopkins discover that grim secrets lie beneath Chuma's seemingly tranquil surface, and that skeletons hide in many a Clarion closet.