When a pretty teacher is killed by a muzzle-loading ball during an encampment of historical re-enactors, Sheriff Steve Martinez is troubled by her role-playing "persona" as a frontier prostitute. Sex can be a motive for murder. But the death is ruled an accident. Besides, killing a person with a muzzle-loader takes way too much time and effort. The next few months, however, bring a surprising number of seemingly unrelated muzzle-loading deaths. A statistical anomaly—or something worse? To find the answer, Steve must battle skeptics, a lack of forensic evidence, an ever shrinking budget, and a rocky romance with his longtime love. Hot on the trail in the deep woods, he suddenly discovers that he is his quarry's newest target.