​Stella Jasper, a self-centered, free-spending socialite in suburban McLean, Virginia, is jolted into reality when her husband, a well-connected Washington lobbyist, abruptly disappears and leaves her cash-strapped, snubbed by her friends, and under investigation by the FBI. Angered and on her own, she slips away incognito and follows his trail to a small town in the Kentucky mountains, where she meets ​B. J. Matson, a local man who has been a lifelong loner. Together, they unexpectedly play a behind-the-scenes role in solving a mystery that fuels a major scandal in the White House and throws the presidential election campaign into disarray. Set in Washington, D.C. and rural Kentucky, the book provides a vivid portrayal of characters in both places.