72-year-old housekeeper, Eleanor Rose, is witty, gentle, and a remarkable cook. To the people of Amalga, Utah, she's a petite old lady who wouldn't hurt a fly. And to her employer, she is the perfect housekeeper--at least until she is found with a bloody knife in her hand beside the dead body of Katherine Cunningham, her employer's 12-year-old daughter. Eleanor quickly admits to the crime and surrenders herself, pleading guilty before her trial even begins. But to Victor Lee, a young and ambitious journalist who is assigned to cover the story, there is more to Eleanor's confession. Through his interviews with Eleanor within the confines of the penitentiary's visiting hall, Victor pushes for the truth and finds himself drawn into her world where the line between right and wrong is blur--nothing is what it seems. What he discovers is a secret that, if revealed, will not only explain Katherine's death, it will also challenge the moral obligation of every mother to her child. It is a secret that started forty-two years ago on the night Eleanor took the life of her only son.