Ruby Bozarth, a newcomer to Rosedale, Mississippi, is also fresh to the Mississippi Bar -- and is immediately tapped as defense counsel in a racially charged felony case. The murder of a woman from one of the town's oldest families has Rosedale's upper crust howling for blood, and the prosecutor is counting on Ruby's inexperience to help him deliver a swift conviction. Ruby's client is a college football star who has returned home after a careerending injury, and she is determined to build a defense that will stick. She finds help in unexpected quarters from Suzanne Greene, a hard-charging attorney armed to the teeth, and Shorty Morgan, a diner cook who knows more than he lets on.