In 1939, John Steinbeck began his research for his novel the Grapes of Wrath at a farm labor camp outside Gridley, California. Fast forward to 1952. A beautiful young girl from this camp is found brutally murdered in a canal near Gridley. She is the daughter of the Coffey family who work the crops during the harvest season. They are unable to afford a decent burial for their daughter.The community shows little emotion or outrage over the death of Clara Coffey, except to place probable blame for her death on an African American man who had recently moved to the area with his family. Only a young Deputy Sheriff named Marlin Webster takes her murder seriously enough to pursue the few clues available as to her killer. Clara becomes almost an obsession with Webster that results in conflict with his love interest, Roxanne Travers, Sheriff Sam Cross and others who stand in his way to finding her murderer and bringing some dignity to her life.The story focuses on Websters investigation and the people and events he encounters, but also on a people and community where long held beliefs and prejudices that come into conflict with changing times die hard.