This the electrifying story of the Benson family tragedy written by the journalist who covered the case for the Washington Post.The story takes us from the tidy farmland of Pennsylvania Amish country to the sun-drenched elegance of Naples, Florida, and from America at the turn of the century to the 1980s. Harry Hitchcock is the good-hearted, hard-working founder of the tobacco dynasty, who raises 2 daughters, Margaret and Janet. Margaret marries the serious Edward Benson and becomes heir to a mounting family fortune. The Bensons have 2 children, Carol Lynn and Steven, money comes easily but the rest is hard. Carol's illegitimate son, Scott is adopted by grandmother Margaret and grows up believing his is Margaret's son and Carol's brother. Steven is plagued by social and business failures, Scott by tennis dreams and drugs, Carol by unsuccessful relationships. An orange fireball engulfs a Chevy suburban and leaves Margaret and Scott dead. Carol scrambles to safety to see Steven taking measure of the carnage.