In 1991 two stories intertwine; first as a series of murders in Hot Springs, Arkansas, forces two newly partnered homicide detectives—‘Donald Smith’ a gay, preppie upper-class male and ‘Angel Jones’ a tough, street-savvy lesbian—to solve the murders while trying to come to terms with their own self bigotry, and second the ruminations of Detective Smith's grandfather concerning ‘Frank Turner’ and his K-9 German shepherd ‘Jack.’