An account of a controversial murder case describes how two college students, Atif Rafay and his best friend, Sebastian Burns, were charged with the bludgeoning deaths of Rafay's parents and the near fatal beating of his sister, despite the seemingly airtight alibis and lack of evidence in the killings of the quiet Muslim family in the wealthy Seattle suburb of Bellevue. Original.

Jeremiah Bembo lives quietly growing fruit and vegetables which his wife Judith sells at the local market. In secret, under the name of Solomon Straw, he travels the country as England's executioner, carrying out the hangings required by law. In a post-war provincial Britain seamed with commonplace corruption, he strives to maintain a balance of compassion and justice, until a murder is committed which brings his two lives into an inevitable collision.