Stanford Rome and Shelley Lester were boyhood best friends growing up in Twofer County, South Georgia. As men, they went their separate ways but stayed in touch.
Now, both live in Atlanta. Stanford Rome is managing partner of his top-notch Certified Public Accounting firm of Rome, Kelsey, and Lang, CPAs.
Shelley Lester is a decorated war hero, who refused to accept the Medal of Honor for "killing colored people for my country." Now, he's a strong-arm working exclusively for the governor. He also patrols the mean streets of Atlanta, where it's rumored that Shelley has disappeared just as many killers and murderers during the peace in Atlanta as he killed enemy soldiers during the war in Vietnam.
Four months earlier, Stanford's wife and son were murdered in Twofer County.
Despite enormous pressure from the governor and other political elites, the many investigations have stalled and wound down to one skeleton crew. But Shelley keeps doggedly hunting clues into the murders of Stanford's wife and son—his godson.
Stanford, guilt-ridden with numbing sadness, takes a leave of absence from his CPA firm to do his own investigation, if only to keep the peace with himself. Meanwhile, two women roll out battle plans to wage war on Stanford and his peace.
Her name is Candice Bergens, and she's a sniper for hire. She owns a "Styles by Candy" beauty salon in each of the eleven cities where she's killed a man. Now she has a contract on Stanford and will kill him with her bullets and her gun.
Her name is Jocelyn Slade, and she's a WTNT-TV News evening anchor; the "darling of Atlanta's airwaves". She has a crush on Stanford and wants to seduce him with her sex and her charm. Jocelyn's intelligence is matched only by her ruthlessness—and her beauty. She's as great a danger to Stanford as the sniper.
And then there's the larger-than-life QueenBee, watching patiently, allowing law enforcement to do its thing. The law failed. Now she will do her thing. QueenBee is South Georgia royalty, the matriarch of Twofer County, and Stanford's grandmother.
QueenBee knows something about the murders no one else knows. She will find the mastermind of the murders and fetch him to Twofer County to face her kangaroo court and her brand of South Georgia payback disguised as justice.
Her vengeful search starts in Chicago 800 miles away, and her search ends in the deep backwoods of Twofer County where a small plane crashed and burned--35 years ago.
The characters are up to their necks in this story of unrequited love and unrequited hate, of self-deception and deceit, of bald-faced lies and half-truths, and most of all, of blind loyalty and misplaced trust. And lurking in the shadows is Frank, tiptoeing along that thin line between Jazz and South Georgia Blues.
