Tony Hill finds himself in unfamiliar surroundings when he travels to Texas to assist the local district attorney in the case of Darius Grady who is accused of murdering his wife and two children. Tony had already met Grady when the latter was stationed at a US military base near Bradfield and was charged with the rape of a local 15-year old. He was sent home by the military before he could be prosecuted in the UK but is using the same defense in the murder of his family as he did then: that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from his service in Iraq. While he doesn't find that Grady is suffering from PTSD, Tony finds far too many holes in the case for him to believe Grady is guilty.
