Synopsis

The third adventure of forensic historian Professor Simon Shaw begins when a forest ranger finds an old pickup truck, and its skeleton passenger, at the base of the Blue Ridge Parkway, where they lay hidden since both went missing over forty years ago. The skeleton belongs to murder victim Eva Potter, while the truck belongs to her murderer, Roy Freedman, who's been in prison all these years.  But Freedman says he's innocent, and persuades Simon to go home to Boone, North Carolina, to use his historian's skills to clear Freedman. There are other reasons why Simon wants to get away from Raleigh for a while; he's had a fight with his girlfriend, police attorney Julia McGloughlin, it's ninety-five degrees in the shade in his backyard, and he hasn't visited his family in Boone for a couple of years.  Simon founds out that Eva's murder happened on his family's property, and an old map of Watauga County makes him wonder if the solution to the murder is hidden nearby.  Then someone close to Simon's investigation is killed, and Simon realizes that a modern-day killer wants to keep him from learning the truth.

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