Becky Belski: a nice small-town girl with a nice computer research job in Chicago. Sort of.

Okay, so she's not always nice, and her "research job"--which entails digging up electronic dirt on people through computer networks--borders on the illegal. So her past is a little murky, what with her mother convicted of killing Becky's stepfather. Still--the case is closed, her mother long dead: How could a high-profile divorce case shake up her humdrum world of sweatsuits and take-out Chinese?

A wealthy socialite has shot her husband, and her lawyers have hired Becky to do some computerized snooping. A straightforward assignment, until the digging reveals a link between the victim and Becky's own half-forgotten past. The connection provides Becky with the chance to unearth the real story behind her mother's conviction.

The plot is further thickened by (1) Michael, cute-but-klutzy lawyer for the defense, and (2) Bill, Becky's long-lost stepbrother. When Becky finds herself in the odd position of being attracted to Bill, it brings a whole new meaning to the term "family affair."

Trying to sort everything out leads Becky to believe that there are some unhappy families that are unhappy in their own truly remarkable ways.