The assistant district attorney, Rusty Sabich, has a successful career, but his personal life didn’t work out. Fed up with a strained relationship with his wife, he begins a short affair with a colleague—young and ambitious assistant Caroline. The situation changes abruptly when Caroline is unexpectedly murdered. Taking on the investigation of her death, Rusty tries to entangle the case.
But when their tryst stops being a secret, Sabich turns from investigator into the main suspect and ends up in the dock. Trying to prove his innocence, Rusty seeks help from the capable attorney Sandy Stern, the man who has helped him in court more than once. In 1990, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name starring Harrison Ford and Raul Julia.