When her only son dies of an overdose, a distraught mother embarks on an obsessive crusade to destroy the pain doctor who gave him the pills that killed him. The Palm Beach Courthouse, and an ambitious prosecutor, become her personal tools for revenge. Charlie Graham sees this case as his bootstrap to unseat Judge Janet Kanterman and secure his future as a powerful member of the bench. But, Charlie has a history of miscues and mischief during the trial of major cases and this one will be no different. Casey Portman, the judge's bailiff; is in love with the handsome sheriff and sees a future with him that looks very much like the cover of a family magazine. She is completely unprepared for what life has in store for her, some of which will bring her close to the end of her life and to the edge of her endurance. The ripple effects of the young man's death will resonate from an elite country club to the inner circle of high end hookers, with murder on the minds of some seemingly ordinary people inside and outside of the courthouse. And through it all runs the trial of a respected neurosurgeon who retired to find a peaceful life in Florida and found the possibility of hanging from a noose, instead.