Some folks think the big-bellied sheriff of Brenham, Texas, isn't smart enough to get reelected. But he's savvy enough to ask retired Texas Ranger Jeremiah Spur for help when Sissy Fletcher is dug up in a pasture outside of town. The hell-raising daughter of a popular preacher, Sissy disappeared ten years ago after a rodeo dance. Everybody thought she ran off with a cowboy. Everybody was dead wrong, and now the Houston TV stations are spotlighting the case. Joining up with deputy Clyde Thomas, a black cop with an attitude problem and the best investigative skills south of Dallas, ex-Ranger Spur figures unearthing Sissy will open a whole can of worms-since some fine upstanding citizen is probably a killer. He just doesn't know how deep secrets are buried in Brenham or how deadly, like prodding a rattler with a short stick, poking into the past will be...