'Barberry' is a story about Leslie Anne Brennemann, a naive young waitress, who had been working on trying to manage a restaurant and bar, in a historical building, in the middle of nowhere. Hyannis Nebraska sits just outside a large industrial development project. Large conglomerate enterprises are in a race to get new technologies in place before the regulations set in, costing the companies serious capital. The growth of the county has helped the restaurant finally make money.

Leslie is asked to help with a murder investigation of one of her schoolmates, in a nearby county. At the same time, she finds evidence of a serial killer. The pressures begin to impact her life. She has to deal with the repercussions of her actions, like accidentally shooting her husband in the butt, spending an inordinate amount of money that was not hers, and finally realizing she has become a woman. She can't keep blaming her actions on her youth.