Jocelyn "Joss" Cole, a burned-out public defender from L.A., has opted for a quieter life in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Joss has no significant clients other than a group of commercial fisherman suffering from a strange and serious illness, a condition that doctors cannot diagnose, and which Joss believes has an industrial cause. Then into her office comes Dean Belden, a well-heeled client in search of a lawyer to help him set up a...

Abby Stanton, a noted East Coast bird specialist, rushes home to the magnificent San Jan Islands in Pacific Northwest after a terrible car accident leaves her sister Mary parlyzed from the waist down. While there, Abby spots a rare and endangered marbled murrelet and its mate. Determined to save them, she finds herself caught up in fascinating intrigtue and one of the long-time families on Sparrow Island. Will Abby's quest for the birds draw her back...