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It is 1920s America. The Great War is behind the nation, although many veterans are still dealing with "shell shock." Prohibition is in effect. The setting is a major city on the banks of the Mississippi River near where the Missouri River adds its flow. But this is not St. Louis. It is Cahokia - a city built around an ancient Native American city and religious site. You see, in this world, the smallpox infection carried by Europeans to the Americas was less virulent than in our history and large populations of Native Americans were not wiped out. In fact, two main populations maintained independence as the United States expanded around them. Those two - Cahokia and an area in the southwest - eventually became states, although states with much more tolerance for diversity than typical southern states.

When this book opens on a grisly murder, that might be about to change. The murder of a white man in what appears to be a Native American ritual, triggers a move by the Ku Klux Klan (yes, this world managed to breed that delightful organization) to take power from the ruling coalition that provides more stability and tolerance than the KKK can tolerate.

Joe Barrow, a mixed-race police detective and his partner are assigned the case - and at least for Joe, he finds that there is much more to it than he bargained for. But he's a principled cop - and a really good jazz pianist, we learn, and he is determined to see this through until a wide conspiracy is brought to light. The partner? He has other plans.