Cotton Fields takes place in an institution for "damaged" members of the middle class accused of murder, although the murders may or may not have happened. It is partly farce, partly comedy, partly a statement about the condition of our humanity and what keeps it where it is. The story revolves around "First Group," which consists of Carl, a priest and therapist, Menlo, whose dissatisfaction begins with her husband's sock drawer, Sterling, whose mental problems center around plumbing, Wilkie, about whom nothing is known, KC, who is accused of murdering neighborhood dogs, Karen, who has committed suicide (successful, she says), Annie, who has been married to Sterling, and Cora, who has been accused of murdering her daughter. Are any of these murders real? In the course of the story we find out, leading us to surprising conclusions, and an unlooked for ending.