May first, Beltane. A youth pastor is found dead, killed in a ritual murder in a desecrated church. The primary suspect, immediately convicted in the court of public opinion, is young woman who lives for the gothic aesthetic. The police, goaded on by consultant, a self accredited "expert" in satanic crime, think it is a slam dunk case.

The pastor had confided he had a date with a witch at the monthly "goth night" at a local bar. He dyed his hair black and and dressed "in the devils clothes, to do the lord's work."

Hunter Devlyn, a retired police chief from a small town in eastern Kentucky has moved to Louisville, and come out of retirement to become the oldest rookie detective in the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department and he is the only one who sees that there is something completely wrong with the case. Dissatisfied with the police consultant he seek out a woman who has written three books on modern occultism under the name of Diana Noire. At first meeting he has a hard time believing she is not an actual witch. And she has a hard time believing she might just be one.