As a crucial witness to the "biggest scandal" early-nineteenth-century Fairmount has seen, lives hang on the balance of Chester Carter's true and complete testimony.

Chester is an unambitious - or independent- minded - apprentice to Mr. Tate of Tate's Banking and Loans when he witnesses a bank robbery and finds himself serving as Sheriff Hoogkirk's justice-seeking assistant. His newfound role in law enforcement introduces him to gambling, carousing, and horse racing at the town's pleasure gardens, and he is drawn to its excitement at the expense of his courtship and professional career. When an acquaintance from the racetrack is implicated in the robberies, Chester worries he must choose between truth and justice.

Shadows in the Pleasure Gardens weaves together timeless themes, including the personal search for purpose and fulfillment, pressure to conform to societal expectations, corruption of the powerful, and how horses help us escape it all, if only for a bit.