Homicide investigator Lucinda Pierce's confidence in her own judgment is deeply shaken when she learns that a woman she helped to put away for the murder of her stepdaughter may not be guilty. The girl's remains have been found-along with four other bodies-in the basement of a serial killer. At the same time Lucinda hears that US Representative Chris Phillips, in prison for killing his third wife, is out on bond, awaiting a new trial, and terrorizing his previous ex-wife. He too was originally convicted based on Lucinda's evidence. Then her young friend, middle-schooler Charley Spencer, is arrested on suspicion of vandalism. Now Lucinda has her hands full, trying to prove Charley's innocence while also dealing with the repercussions of the reopened cases.