The heart of the tale is a simple idea with complex implications: Anthony Lucia, an old Italian pigeon keeper known to his South Philly neighbors as "Pigeon Tony," doesn't try to hide the fact that he killed lifelong enemy Angelo Coluzzi, nor is he sorry that he's dead. He justifies the killing because he was merely carrying out a vendetta begun more than 50 years ago in Italy, a blood feud that brought great tragedy to Pigeon Tony's life.

But is murder ever justified? That is what ace lawyer, Judy Carrier, an associate of the Philly law firm Rosato & Associates, must decide for herself, before she can launch a defense in what becomes the most challenging case of her career. Challenging, not only because of its legal complexities, but because she must outsmart and outrun the victims sons, dangerous men who are determined to avenge their father's death, and finish off Pigeon Tony and Judy before the case goes to trial.