Jennifer Witt is a woman who has suffered. Virtually every man in her life has abused her, so who would blame her if one day she struck back? Killed her doctor husband Larry whose strictures and punishments have made her life a living hell...But when Larry is shot dead Jennifer, suspect number one, denies she was ever beaten and consistently refuses to admit she killed him. Dismas Hardy, agreeing to undertake her defence, tends to belive her, espically since her seven-year-old son, the apparent centre of her life, was also killed...

But as Jennifer's trail - a capital case - contiues and Dismas watches his own family life disintergrate under the pressure of her defence, he begins to wonder if his judgement has let him down.And if Jennifer Witt is a cold-blooded childkiller...