Richard Quinn is a judge so ethical that he is willing to risk his own life to see that justice prevails in his courtroom. But as Quinn discovers when he presides over the trial of tough-talking state congresswoman Jane Crease, there is not always a clear path to justice.

A cigar-smoking former police officer, Crease is a flamboyant public figure who stands accused of the brutal murder of her husband, a wealthy undertaker. Things, however, are not as they seem, and Quinn soon begins to suspect that Crease may well have been set up. As he zeros in on the shocking secret at the heart of the trial, Quinn finds that his efforts to do the right thing lead him ever deeper into an insidious maze of murder and deceit...