Ex-cop Stone Barrington is making his way as an attorney these days. He’s taking a little time out for a Caribbean vacation with his sweetheart Arrington. He arrives at St. Marks Island first and Arrington is supposed to join him shortly but she is delayed by her job and calls him to say she’ll be there as soon as she can get away. Stone kicks back aboard the rented yacht to enjoy the scenery and wait for Arrington.

A large sailboat enters the harbor piloted by a beautiful young lady who seems to be all alone on the boat. After securing the sailboat to a dock, Allison, the young lady, goes ashore to report that her husband, a wealthy author, had died of a heart attack while at sea and because of the heat and the fact that she was miles from land, she had to surrender his body to the ocean.

St Mark’s Minister of Justice, Sir Winston Sutherland, sees this as an opportunity to launch his bid for Prime Minister and so he charges Allison with murder, a capitol crime in his country.

Stone Barrington is given permission to lead her defense and soon learns that in this tropical paradise, the law, complete with robes and wigs, moves at a breakneck pace and bears little resemblance to the justice system that he left behind in America. If anything, it can be compared to the trial of Alice in Wonderland with the prosecutor screaming, "Off with her head."

As Stone works to try to save Allison, her deceased husband’s ex-wife shows up to claim part of the fortune he left behind and after being rebuffed she dies in a suspicious airplane crash while trying to leave the island. And as if he doesn’t already have enough problems, Stone’s girlfriend Arrington contacts him to say that she’s leaving him to marry a movie star.

This story continues to wind and twist its way through the corrupt government of the tiny country as the Minister of Justice manipulates the system, demanding a conviction followed by an immediate hanging.

Author Stuart Woods keeps you on the edge, teasing you with hope that Allison will win acquittal and then slamming you with more damning evidence of her guilt. You won’t know her fate until the very unusual ending.

I liked this book because the story flowed extremely well making it an easy read. It’s the kind of book that you don’t mind reading in one sitting.