It is May 1963 in Birmingham Alabama. As Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights demonstrations begin to fill the streets prejudices awaken and tempers flare. Amid the violence and confusion a deaf black girl is found raped and murdered. Veteran homicide detective Ben Wellman pursues the murderer through the throngs of protesters the pool halls of the black district of Bearmatch the white mansions of Mountain Brook and finally even in his own department. As he did in Sacrificial Ground Cook has created a novel of uncommon force and resonance.