When Cherokee burial remains are unearthed on the site of alocal cemetery''s expansion, Barry Clayton, part-time deputy and full-timeundertaker, finds his dual occupations colliding. Then, during the interment ofthe wife of one of Gainesboro''s most prominent citizens, Cherokee activistJimmy Panther leads a protest. Words and fists fly.
When Panther turns up executed on the grave of the deceasedwoman, Barry is forced to confront her family as the chief suspects. But thecase lurches in a new direction with the arrival of Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkin''sarmy pal, Boston detective Kevin Malone. Malone is on the trail of a Boston hitman who arrived at the Cherokee reservation only days before the murder. Maloneis convinced his quarry is the man who pulled the trigger. But who paid him? Andwhy?
The investigation draws Barry onto the reservation whereJimmy Panther''s efforts to preserve Cherokee traditions threatened thedevelopment of a new casino, a casino bringing millions of dollars ofconstruction and substantial yearly payouts to every member of the tribe. Withthe unlikely team of his childhood nemesis Archie Donovan and his elderly UncleWayne, Barry goes undercover in an effort to draw out the truth. But the stakesare higher than he realized-and the life of a Cherokee boy becomes the wager.Barry must play his cards very carefully in his riskiest undertaking yet.
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