The inhabitants of Good Hope, Virginia, haven't felt the cooling effects of rain in weeks. With the town a tinderbox waiting to explode, all it will take is a spark to ignite the rage and hatred so carefully hidden. And then a tragedy occurs. A baby is born and dies in her mother's arms. The child, Nora Carol, is buried quickly and quietly the next day in the church graveyard. It should have ended there, but it didn't, for Nora Carol is of mixed race.

The white deacons of Good Hope's Victory Baptist Church, trying to protect the centuries-old traditions of their cemetery, have the body exhumed. That night the church is set ablaze, and the sole witness is the only suspect - Elijah Waddell, Nora Carol's father. What follows is a legal case that reveals a host of hidden prejudices, incendiary secrets, and ultimately, an act of justice that has nothing to do with the law...