The murder trial promises to be the most sensational to hit Chicago in years. And attorney Briley Lester knows it could make--or break-- her career. The tabloid headlines are screaming that a long-mistreated society wife has killed her abusive husband--the scion of one of the city's wealthiest, most powerful, most dangerous families....

It seems like a hopeless, open-and-shut case, but Briley is becoming more and more convinced that her client truly is innocent. A tragic secret, almost too shocking to be believed, could be the key to proving it. But before she can bring the truth into the light, she'll have to face this woman's shadow-haunted past--and her own-- and let darkness come....