The Grave Robber

TITLE: The Grave Robber

AUTHOR: Ross Inman

LOGLINE: In a town where politics and organized crime mingle over a glass of whiskey, grave robbers uncover the corpse of a missing activist, pulling an idealistic detective into the town's dark underbelly where she must learn to adapt or die.

SUMMARY: Where the moss drips down on Confederate tombstones, Christina Harrelson strives to follow in the footsteps of her grandfather, the town’s first Black policeman. On the surface, she’s succeeding--she’s a respected detective who volunteers for a mayoral candidate championing the poor. But when grave robbers accidentally unearth a murdered local activist, her well-ordered world explodes.

Christina is soon caught between the interests of her candidate, Councilman Swanson, and the nagging sense that she may not be on the side of the “good guys”, if those even exist in her seedy port town. After helping Swanson to clear out a Native American burial ground to build a community center for his constituents, Christina is drawn into the world of his shadier colleagues, and enemies.

A midnight meeting with the devious, one-eyed gangster Odin leaves Christina shaken, and she confides in Tory, her secret lesbian lover. Tory’s response is clear: she’s killed before, and she will again if it means helping the love of her life. But Christina needs to let her close-minded family know about their relationship. The weight of her family name, and the legacy of her grandfather, ultimately causes Christina to push Tory away.

When the cover-up of the burial ground is exposed, Swanson turns on Christina. Alone and fighting for her life, she finds refuge in the bloodthirsty Odin. Soon, she’s carving out her own legacy.