HIDDEN CURRENTS

A recent murder and an upcoming trial keep the sheriff of Branson County, Missouri, busy.

Hank Worth is trying to keep a young drug user out of jail so he can get help, but Gene Willard, the new owner of Reel Life Outfitters, insists on bringing charges for shoplifting. Hank’s deputy, Sheila Turley, is back at work after having been badly beaten in a case soon to go to trial. The accused, Edrick Fizzel Jr., is the white son of a powerful politician with many advantages over a complainant who’s a Black woman. There are so many conflicts of interest for everyone local that the judge and eventually the jury have to be brought in from outside. Deciding to visit Willard again at one of his two stores, Hank finds him dead. Willard has a stepson he threw out of the house and he and his wife, Nora, who works for a lawyer, are waist-deep in a nasty divorce. The store is such a mess that it’s hard to tell whether anything was stolen. No one seems to know if the stores are making any money, and a lot of merchandise has never even been unpacked. Security footage shows a few customers and some vehicles that Hank hopes to track down in search of possible motives. Hank’s other deputy is about to get married. His soon-to-be mother-in-law is driving the couple crazy. Sheila is getting harassed while prepping for a very nasty trial. Even the former owner of Reel Life can offer little help in figuring out whether it’s profitable. So Hank has a lot on his hands as he tries to pin down a motive.

An interesting and complex police procedural.