Walking his dog at dawn on a cool October morning, Russell Island resident Jeremiah Parks discovers a body lying on the bloodied sand of the tiny Chesapeake Bay island's beach. Summoned to the scene, Police Chief Starrett Knight, the tranquil hamlet's one-man force, soon learns that the dead stranger was Kiril Varga, Deputy Prime Minister of Balkania. Ongoing peace talks in nearby Oxford, Maryland, seek an end to that pivotal nation's civil conflict before its internal turmoil reignites dormant ancient enmities, plunging the entire Balkan Peninsula back into war. Murder victim Varga was Balkania's chief negotiator at that peace conference. He was also the ex-lover of Ellen Mannery, artist, Russell Island resident, and Knight's close friend. Despite evidence linking Ellen and her husband to the monstrous crime, Knight is certain of their innocence. He sets out to prove it by finding the real killer and that of a seemingly unrelated homicide victim found shot to death in a Manhattan alley, while himself becoming involved in a torrid affair with the beautiful television newswoman covering the investigation.