Marquis is accused of involvement in the murder of a man from a rival neighbourhood. Darren has been found guilty of murdering a petrol station attendant. Charles has been charged with the murder of a homeless teenage girl. All of them are potentially facing the death penalty in California. Australian - born Rachel Sommerville is a private investigator whose job is to help lawyers convince a jury or appeal court to let these men live. Her search for the evidence that may stop the imposition of a death sentence takes her to some of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the US. <i>California P.I.</i> is Sommerville's passionate account of the men whose lives she tries to save and of her journey from genteel, middle - class Adelaide to the ghettos and prisons of America.