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Assistant District Attorney Dana Hargrove is just over a week away from a blissful, well-deserved vacation when the disasters start piling up. First she's issued a summons to a trial inconveniently scheduled during her vacation, then a fellow attorney's case turns into a media nightmare, and before she knows it that vacation suddenly seems very much out of reach. Struggling to juggle her business and her private life, Dana must face a threat to her practice and her reputation, and still manage to clear everything in time to relax in the sun with her loving husband and kids.
This legal thriller meets murder mystery is high on exposition and dialogue—often restating case facts—and low on action, but Kemanis delivers it smoothly through thoroughly absorbing writing. The reader is thrust into the dizzying world of the legal profession at a running pace and never slows down. Dana's tale is not the only one in the spotlight, and at first it can be difficult to keep up with the many names and seemingly unrelated stories. Sticking to it pays off, as every character (no matter how minor) is fleshed-out and believable and all legal and law enforcement procedures are well-researched. What do the re-opening of an old case, the murder of a wealthy clothing designer, and a con-man who preys on kind old women have to do with each other? As the book progresses, it slowly becomes clear that all the stories are woven together in an extremely satisfying way.