Matthew Hope is the focus of this series and the novels revolve largely around his activities and are filtered largely through his consciousness. Matthew is a divorced, middle-aged lawyer who lives alone in the middle-sized city of Calusa, Florida.

His daughter, with whom he tries valiantly to maintain a close relationship, is now attending boarding school in Connecticut. The distance between father and daughter frustrates Matthew to no end. Susan, Matthew's former wife, with whom he briefly entertained a renewed relationship and currently is on friendly speaking terms, lives nearby.

Matthew's professional life revolves around his law practice, which has undergone something of a change as he gradually has shifted over his emphasis from real estate to criminal law. In the process he has become involved, often unwillingly, in a number of criminal investigations which he has solved or helped to solve. Currently he has two private operatives...