 It is 1968. A young woman, Billie Jo Bradley, is murdered and her heart cut out. Her husband, Bo Bradley, is later executed for the crime. Now it is 1988, and Sparta is preparing to celebrate its 150th centennial. Curiously, another young woman, Michelle Carpenter, is murdered and her heart removed. Newspaper editor Reed Nicholson, who was suspected in the earlier murder, comes under suspicion again. Chief Bill Gillespie is anonymously threatened, and Virgil Tibbs is attacked during the investigation. The case may connected to Marie Babineaux, the local voodoo queen.