Running away from an abusive home, she supported herself by working as a waitress, rising to become a famous trial lawyer. Marlowe James has been dubbed the "burning bed lawyer" by the news media because of her successful defense of women who killed their abusive husbands. And to top that, she was the accused in her first murder trial. Now she not only has to do battle in the Old Bailey with barristers loyal to the Crown, she has to come to grips with her own feelings about a woman who has been handed everything any woman would desire - and throws it all away.