It's a heat wave in more ways than one in the summer of 1905, as strikes, arson, and train wrecks threaten the fabric of civilized society in South Bend, Indiana. In the tumultuous first years of the twentieth century, anarchy seems to rule, with the assassination of an American president and labor unrest.

When David Williams returns to campus to renege on a pledge donation, one of his former classmates sends a letter confessing to the murder and secret burial of one of their closest friends decades ago. Roger and Philip set about the task of unearthing the body but discover a much bigger mystery.

In 1904 South Bend, Indiana, recently married Hilda Johansson Cavanaugh struggles with her adjustment from being a servant to that of the wife to the affluent Patrick. Worse she finds herself isolated from her spouse's upper crust family and friends while her former working class peers snub her. Despite her unsettling circumstances, Hilda agrees to help her only remaining friend Norah O'Neill after the police arrest Norah's husband Sean, accusing...