Sinners Are Condemned

The return of students from spring break at Western Dakota University is marred by the discovery of a gruesome murder. A popular student is found dead, her naked body slashed and shredded and lying in a pool of blood in her sorority house, which was supposed to have been locked and empty over the week-long vacation. As the university community struggles to cope with the murder of one of its students, Director of Campus Security Leroy Simpson and Pierre Police Detective Tom Big Lance search for a killer among her current and former boyfriends, some whom express anger over their breakup. Two other individuals, the victim's Iranian Psychology Professor and a Black football player, are the subjects of malicious gossip. They are accused of the murder and face vigilante-style attacks from prejudiced members of the community. In addition, the confession of an insane homeless man raises the possibility that the murder may have been the work of a serial killer. This murder, more than any that Simpson and Big Lance have investigated in the past, unleashes and reveals the dark forces lurking beneath the placid surface of campus life. Leroy Simpson, whose struggles with alcohol led to the loss of his wife, is surprised when a new woman enters his life. When he manages to ask her for a date, it changes his life in ways he doubted could be possible.