In the course of her ninety-one years, Ann-Victoria Hadley has frequently been the most hated person in Snow Hill, Pennsylvania. But as bad as it's been in the past, now it's worse than ever. After a new school board inserted Intelligent Design into the curriculum, they were sued by a coalition including Hadley, the one member of the board who wouldn't go along with the majority. With the trial about to start and the town held up as a national laughingstock, Annie-Vic, as she is commonly known, is found brutally beaten - clubbed into unconsciousness and not expected to survive. The local police chief, part of the school board being sued, can't handle the case himself out of concern that it will appear to be a conflict of interest, and he doesn't want to turn over the investigation to the state police. Looking for an impartial and unimpeachable figure to handle the crime before the situation gets even more out of control, the police chief decides to hire Gregor Demarkian.Gregor Demarkian, former FBI agent and frequent consultant on high-profile cases, is only too happy to help. With his wedding coming up, he's desperate for a bit of time away from his too-involved neighbors on Cavanaugh Street in Philadelphia. Even if it is to investigate a brutal crime in a powder keg of a small town. Read Less