Though nostalgic for the good old days, Sheriff Dan Rhodes of Blacklin County, Texas, knows that times may change, but people are still people, some good, some bad, and most things can be explained with a little common sense -- even the "ghost" haunting his jail. Could it be the same ghostly culprit looting the local cemetery? When Ty Berry, the president of one of two feuding historical societies, is found shot dead in a freshly dug grave, Rhodes decides the crime is of a more earthly nature.

The outspoken head of the rival historical society becomes the second victim, putting Rhodes and his department on the trail of a double homicide, a small-time drug ring, a riot of loose emus, goats . . . and of course, one irascible ghost. With his folksy manner and steel-trap mind, Rhodes proves once again that the human condition is an unchangeable as greed, desperation and murder.