The recently deceased Mona Dearly was many things: an abusive wife, a domineering mother, a loud-mouthed neighbor and a violent malcontent. So when her car and corpse are discovered in the Hudson River, police Chief Wyatt Rash immediately suspects murder rather than an accident. But, since the whole community of Verplanck, N.Y., shares a deep hatred for this unceasingly spiteful woman, Rash finds his murder investigation overwhelmed with potential suspects.
A character has a stump where his right hand used to be. There are several flashbacks depicting different ways he might have lost his hand (a chainsaw, a wood chipper, a knife), though the moment of amputation is always off-screen.