That Wendy Cole died from a single gunshot to the chest was never in dispute. Whether it was a suicide or a murder staged to look like a suicide was the question.

According to the aggressive county district attorney, James Pearlman, it was murder motivated by a half-million-dollar life insurance policy, and he managed to convince a jury that Wendy's husband, Joe, was guilty of the act.

There are many who don't agree with the verdict, however. Chief among them is the insurance company who would not have to pay Wendy's two kids the half-million-dollars if their mother took her own life. To that end, they hire former police detective Chelsea Monroe, now working as a private investigator, to see if she can put together enough evidence to convince a civil jury that Wendy died by her own hand.

Every person that Chelsea tracks down and interviews—family, friends, ex-husband, and extra-marital lovers—seems to have a different theory on how and why Wendy died. Few believe it was suicide, but fewer still think that Joe killed her.

In the end, Chelsea ends up with a jumble of puzzle pieces that she must somehow fit together to arrive at the truth. A truth that may not make her employer, the insurance company, very happy.