Sarah Newby, who left school at fifteen and become a teenage single parent on a council estate in Leeds, has worked her way up to begin a career as a criminal barrister. She then finds that her own son, Simon, is arrested and charged with a series of brutal rapes and murders around the city of York. The evidence against him appears so strong that his QC advises a guilty plea, whereupon Simon begs his mother to defend him instead. There is no ruling in law that says a mother can't defend her son and so Sarah feels morally bound to represent him. The only other obvious suspect, however, for these murders, is a man who has already been acquitted once - with Sarah acting as his defence lawyer...Has Sarah, in her single-minded determination to create a career for herself, neglected her son so much that she no longer knows him? Since he has often lied to her in the past, how can she trust him when he says he is innocent this time? And what should she do when she herself uncovers evidence that seems to suggest his guilt? A tense courtroom drama where telling the whole truth may not be as important as keeping certain secrets well hidden...