The Murder Rule is set in the USA with the main character being Hanna Rokeby who has been accepted as a volunteer on the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia. The project investigates the cases of prisoners who insist that they have been wrongfully convicted and have spent many years in gaol.
Hanna is primarily interested in the case of Michael Dandridge gaoled for the rape and murder of a young mother. Many years earlier she had read her mother's diary in which she described a relationship she had with Tom Spencer in 1994. She also described how she was raped by Toms' friend Mike Dandridge. Hanna therefore becomes involved at the Innocence Project not to clear Mike but to ensure that he remains in prison.
The chapters in the novel, recounting events fom Hannah's perspective as well as others involved in the investigation in 2019, are initially interspersed with sections of Hanna's mother's diary. As the story evolves it becomes obvious that all is not as it at first appears. Who is telling the truth? What part of the story can really be believed?
Police corruption in a small town and the need sometimes to use unorthodox methods to find the truth are themes in this book about obtaining justice for all. Hannah must also find out who she really is and how she wants to live her life.
The murder rule in the title of the book is the concept existing in parts of America that people should be fully legally responsible for acts they didn't commit, or didn't indend to commit. This concept of felony murder results in many innocent people being sent to gaol.
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