When Cam and Meredith Taylor, the owners of Mason County's failing newspaper, are murdered, Deputy Sheriff Tom Bridger and veterinarian Rachel Goddard find themselves pulled into another puzzling case. The Taylors were staunch political activists which made them both good friends and bitter enemies in the area, so their killer could be just about anyone in Mason County. With the arrival of the Taylors' daughter, Lindsey, comes a whole new set of problems as she is Tom's former girlfriend and willing to do anything to win him back. To complicate matters further, the main suspect is Rachel's childhood friend Ben Hern, a famous and wealthy cartoonist, and Rachel is unsure who she can trust.