In the summer of 1916, a twister devastates the land around Boynton, Oklahoma. Alafair Tucker's family and neighbors are not spared the ruin and grief spread by the storm, but no one will mourn Jubal Beldon, who made it his business to know the ugly secrets of everyone in town. As the undertaker does his grim duty for the victims, he finds that even in death Jubal isn't going to leave his neighbors in peace. He was already dead when the tornado carried his body to the middle of a field. Was it an accident or murder? Dozens of people would have been happy to do the deed. As Sheriff Tucker investigates Jubal's demise, it seems the prime suspect may be someone very dear to the widow Beckie MacKenzie, the beloved music teacher and mentor of Alafair's daughter Ruth. Alafair has her own suspicions about how Jubal Beldon came to die, and the reason may hit very close to home.