Now with its mighty mansions in decay, sinister forces are cutting the town off from history and the natural order. None of this is lost on Valentine Hitch. The last of the patrician landowners and visionary-Life photographer has a plan to reclaim Crum Elbow. After Jessica, a Sotheby's art expert, shows up to inspect one of Valentine's rare Sargent paintings and his prodigal nephew returns from California, things begin to happen.

When a repentant billionaire, a shadowy eco-terrorist, and a millennial river hydrologist get involved, Valentine comes face to face with the shadowy, new breed of crooks.