Whenever Judge Deborah Knott comes to town, murder seems to follow. Her eighth outing takes the young district judge to the pottery-rich town of Seagrove, North Carolina for routine divorce proceedings. But quickly she finds herself in all-too-familiar territory when the legal and artistic battle between two potters, James Lucas and Sandra Kay Nordan, ends in murder. Deborah soon learns that this is not the first tragedy to wound Amos Nordan, proud patriarch of the clan. Over a year earlier James Lucas' brother had killed himself in such a shameful manner that old Amos can't bear to speak of it. Days later, when another death is discovered, it is clear that someone wants to shut down the Nordan kilns for good. In the end, it will take Deborah's insight into the very heart of vengeance to understand what past tragedy still stalks the Nordan family.