African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.

When their mother dies, Danny and Jack must fend for themselves. Danny escapes with sex, drugs and music and Jack turns a mannequin into a surrogate parent. Finally, they must come to terms with each other.

A black police detective is asked to investigate a murder in a racially hostile southern town.