Madam Ricketts tells the story of John Wesley, a second-generation newspaper reporter who is writing a book based on his late father’s writings and research. He interviews Maudie Ricketts, the elderly madam of a whorehouse on the Mexican border. She tells of her adventures in New England on the riverboat Lady Minerva and her travels to Arizona in Brother Tucker’s Redemption Caravan that led to her becoming the ‘white’ wife of a rich and cruel man who already had a family. She reveals the dark side of families that loved, deceived, and murdered each other for generations between 1875 and 1953. As he listens to the stories, Wesley begins to wonder. Is Madam Ricketts who she claims to be? A witness or victim, or something more?