Detective Jack Kendall and his assistant, Stacy Young, receive a disturbing call that opens the door to a missing persons case that has tugged at the heartstrings of Mississippi and the entire nation. Now Jack and Stacy hold the key to the most shocking, complex, and emotional case of their careers, and they are all in!

As the only heir of Joan Chandler, Tyler Chandler stands to inherit everything a man could want, including Pearl River Mansion—a 450-acre, post-Civil War estate that sits at the end of one of the many fingers of the Pearl River. Tyler's mother makes a game out of controlling people by trading on her wealth, but Tyler refuses her money—which always comes with strings—and struggles to make it on his own, trading instead on his intelligence and exceptional good looks. But he's not as good at the game as she is and finds himself trapped in a marriage that infuriates his mother.

It is a destructive battle of wills, and just when Tyler believes he's winning, fat intercedes... And for the second time in her life, Joan finds a purpose for the alligators that have kept her well away from the water's edge—and the stakes keep rising.