Ricardo Arias is found dead, the gun still wedged in his mouth. It looks like suicide, but the physical evidence strongly suggests murder. The police investigation uncovers an estranged wife, Terri Peralta; an ugly custody battle over their six-year-old daughter, Elena; heated charges of child abuse; and a murder suspect: San Francisco defense attorney Christopher Paget.

Paget has motive--it's his son accused of abusing Elena, his political plans for the future put at risk by the dead man's accusations, and his alibi that is dangerously threadbare.

And the shocking revelations that threaten to explode in the courtroom may remain hidden forever...by Chris Paget's refusal to testify on his own behalf...by Elena's tangled loyalties...and by dark secrets that some desperately wish to keep silent....

Tags: Fiction, Lawyers, Child Sexual Abuse, Psychological, Legal, Mystery & Detective, Suspense, Trials, San Francisco, Legal Stories, San Francisco (Calif.) Fiction., Legal Stories -- California -- San Francisco., Trials (Murder), San Francisco (Calif.)

Written by: Richard North Patterson

Publisher: New York : Ballantine, c1995.