Maddie Arnette traded in her hard-news crime reporting for softer, feel-good features after her husband's death. But her lifelong addiction to the dark side of journalism, bolstered by years of meeting sources in back alleys and visiting grisly crime scenes, still clamors for Maddie's attention.

When Suzanne Parker falls to the pavement in front of Maddie during the Oak City Marathon, Maddie assumes it's an accident. That is, until Suzanne whispers words that make Maddie's skin go cold: my husband is trying to kill me.

Maddie's personal experience with domestic violence in her family connects her to Suzanne in a way that she can't ignore. Soon, Maddie's allegiance to protecting her new friend and discovering the truth about Suzanne's husband becomes an obsession, one that leads her down a dangerous path. When someone turns up dead, Maddie finally realizes she is all in again with crime reporting, but this time she may be in over her head.