Clyde Noble has his sights set on the U.S. Senate when his beautiful, troubled, nineteen year old daughter Miranda is discovered alone, partially nude, and dead, in his swimming pool. What appears to be an accidental drowning isn't, as death by asphyxiation confirms veteran investigator Gene Roberts's suspicions that he and his young assistant Lewis Brown have a murder to solve, a task made more difficult when the list of suspects includes the brother of Miranda's stepmother. Navigating political pressures and the changing stories of those who are both suspects and witnesses, the investigation hands the young Commonwealth's Attorney Ev Cross, who has never prosecuted a murder, a daunting case he has no choice but to try.