Simone's father, Retired Air Force Captain James Covington and her boyfriend, Cliff Roberts, a divorce attorney also from Atlanta, are more interested in domestic tranquility and Mama's legendary home cooking than they are in the often dangerous escapades of their women. After spending the day collecting clothing for the drive and catching up on all the news, they settle down for a quiet evening at home. But it is not to be. Mama's boss, Hattie Russell, accompanied by a distraught Tootsie Long, arrive to tell them that Brenda Long's dead body has been found. She was strangled, and her tongue split in two.
Early investigation points to an epidemic of drug use in the town.
Mama is not prepared to believe this and therefore alienates State Law Enforcement authorities and her own local ally, County Sheriff Abe Stanley. She and Simone are on their own. Their list of suspects is lengthy. Brenda, they discover, has a recent history of blowing the whistle on anyone she discovers in any wrong-doing. Strangely enough, Tootsie seems unaware of all the trouble her daughter had been causing.