Redemption and greed collide in the quaint town of Avenell.Griffin Reed is the widowed rector for the prestigious campus of Avenell University, nestled in the rolling hills of Tennessee. A man of deep spirituality with a penchant for classic literature, Father Grif thoroughly enjoys the gentle atmosphere of Avenell accented by the thriving undercurrent of university life. But that fine balance is jolted when a Pulitzer-prizewinning playwright is found dead in the Martyr's Chapel, a 150-year-old church on the campus property. Gentry Truman had served as writer-in-residence at the private university, and though his term had not been without its stormy moments, the community is reeling from his death's sinister intrusion. While local authorities suspect a local hermit of the crime, Father Grif believes otherwise. With the somewhat comic assistance of his intrusive, spinster sister and his long-standing friendship with a Baptist prison chaplain, Father Grif uncovers a surprising list of suspects as he struggles to shed the light of faith on the darkness plaguing his small parish community.