Arguments between relatives--never thought of that one, that's a good idea :) On the buildup, do you have some action in the opening scene? Koontz's formula for keeping the action flowing is that the opening scene should plunge the protagonist into some type of crisis, and every attempt to resolve this crisis should complicate things even further until the final scene actually resolves the crisis. As you describe your story, it sounds like maybe your opening scene would relate to how the hero became convicted of a crime. Maybe if you start at the crime scene you could get some action in there?