With sass and wit, Deborah Knott, formerly a defense attorney in North Carolina's Collection County, is putting herself firmly on the seat of power-a district judgeship. She's also making good on a campaign promise; helping to build houses for battered women. Here Deborah expects muscle aches, not the near-rape of a young woman and the murder of her attacker. and Deborah certainly never expects that her hammer complete with her fingerprints will become a murder weapon.