Following the murderous events of the "gripping . . . thrill-ride" (Karin Slaughter) Serpent in Heaven, Lizbeth Rose is awaiting the arrival of her sister, Felicia, and her husband's younger brother, Peter, in Texoma. Both needed to leave the seat of the Holy Russian Empire in San Diego after Felicia's burgeoning wizardly power in death magic became the reason for kidnapping and assassination attempts from her mother's family of high-powered wizards in Mexico.