Eddie Ryan, haiku poet, Vietnam veteran, and town mortician of Inverawe, New Hampshire, spends his days slipping handwritten poems into the pockets of the departed, keeping lists of bizarre local deaths, and protecting his wife and children from his own fear and anxiety. Then, one Christmas Eve, a gypsy logger named Cody steers his bulldozer onto Ryan's front lawn - with the accidentally bisected corpse of his partner strapped to the front. Cody, garrulous and grieving, wins Eddie's sympathy and a place to stay. Soon, Eddy and Cody find themselves spending time together fishing, hunting, drinking, and unraveling the secrets of their Inverawe neighbors, including the most troubling mystery of all - who is stealing the hearts from Eddie's corpses and why. "A Trail of Heart's Blood Wherever We Go" is vintage Olmstead: lyrical, heady, and full of hard-won wisdom.