Boulder attorney Lucinda Hayes pulls the gruesome page from the fax machine, not suspecting it will draw her into the repugnant realm of pornographic film and pit her against the giants of the mainstream film industry. Her reluctant agreement to represent Peggy Grayling, mother of a slain child, requires her to reach out to her law partner Tory Meadows and private investigator Linc Tolkien, but troubles her long-distance love affair with New York lawyer Sam Holt. As the case unfolds Cinda must call upon all her legal talent and argue for a new understanding of the law of free speech; it also forces her to revisit her past and face its ghosts. Equal parts courtroom drama, intellectual journey, and character study, Chilling Effect is Marianne Wesson's most provocative Lucinda Hayes mystery to date.