In this novel the author takes you back to where it all began in A Time to Kill. Now we return to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial; a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured history. Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves...

Being on the Murder Squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed it would be. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is the only person who seems glad she's there. The rest of her working life is a stream of thankless cases, vicious pranks, and harassment. Antoinette is savagely tough, but she's getting close to the breaking point. Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers' quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed...

The season premier picks up where the Season 4 finale ended. Walt is lying in his bedroom dazed from being shot by unknown assailants. After regaining consciousness in the hospital he sets out to find what happened to Dr. Donna Monahan, the psychiatrist that he started seeing in Season 4. Meanwhile Mathias blackmails Henry into continuing his charade as Hector - only aiding Mathias instead of innocent people.

Lt. Wakes, a vengeful police detective, is determined to solve the murders of his partner and an informant. Wakes joins forces with Madison, a witness injured during the shootings, after the killers pursue her across the abandoned floor of a hospital and confirm Wakes's worst fears: the two men are actually corrupt vice cops covering up a crime. As Wakes vows revenge, this heart-pounding action-thriller reaches an explosive climax.