When firefighter Gary Parks is killed in a fire ruled arson, the investigation into his death shifts to homicide. A serial arsonist is thought to be the culprit; but it will take a dogged cold-case detective following his gut to track down the real killer.

In 1979 Janie Landers disappears from a home for the impaired–the latest consequence of the facility's history of neglect. When Janie's body is found, there are many suspects but it is years before the killer and the atrocities in the facility are revealed.