Sam Stone hasn't had a very good year. He's lost his wife, his job, and his posh home in suburban San Francisco. Just when he's about to end it all by taking a high dive off the Golden Gate Bridge, he receives a phone call that will change his life...and not for the better. Sam's Aunt Millie has recently died under mysterious circumstances. He returns to her small California town to put her affairs in order, but he gets a cold welcome from her attorneys and the police. As it becomes apparent that Aunt Millie's departure for the next life wasn't exactly peaceful, Sam finds himself dragged into an increasingly complicated network of police assumptions and Chicago mob activity. When Sam is arrested and charged with murdering his own kin, the authorities claim he had motive as Aunt Millie's only heir. Unfortunately for Sam, the only goal he has left is to prove his innocence. He must use all of his considerable street smarts to outwit those who have significant motivation of their own. If Sam can't fight his way out of his unlikely predicament, his enemies will be happy to see him rot in jail, or worse.