The Best Laid Plans is a 1997 novel by Sidney Sheldon. The story details the rise of a handsome, charismatic attorney named Oliver Russel, to political fame, while his jilted fiancée, Leslie Stewart, grows a media empire to eventually destroy his career and image. Possible inspiration for the title comes from a paraphrasing of the Robert Burns poem "To a Mouse" into modern English. Synopsis The novel begins with an introduction to Leslie Stewart, one of the protagonists of the book, from her childhood to her current occupation as an advertising executive in Lexington, Kentucky. Her firm picks up a new client named Oliver Russell, who is running for governor of Kentucky against the incumbent governor. He does not have much money for a significant campaign and so Leslie donates money to his campaign without informing anyone, while also handling his campaign without cost, though the campaign is rather small-scale. Oliver and Leslie also go out on a series of dates, after one of which Oliver offers to give her a drug known as liquid Ecstasy, saying that it is an aphrodisiac. However, Leslie refuses and Oliver appears to discard it. They plan their wedding, but a few days prior to it, Oliver goes to Paris for a sudden meeting. When Oliver returns from Paris married to another woman, evoking memories of her own father's elopement with a younger woman, Leslie vows to take revenge against him. However, she keeps her thoughts concealed. The other woman is Jan Davis, daughter of Kentucky Senator Todd Davis, who is revealed to have funded his campaign earlier on the condition that Oliver marries his daughter. Leslie asks Davis to introduce her to one of his friends, a magnate named Henry Chambers, who has recently divorced and lives in Arizona. Oliver soon becomes governor through the help of Senator Davis and his political manager, Peter Tager. A few more deaths occur and are linked to the use of liquid Ecstasy. A brief introduction followed by marriage sees Leslie manage the Phoenix Star, a newspaper owned by Henry. With his failing health and subsequent death, Leslie becomes the sole owner of his properties. In spite of all the other businesses, Leslie takes an immense liking for the media empire, with which she intends to destroy Oliver. Meanwhile, Dana Evans, who stars in Sheldon's other novel The Sky Is Falling, is introduced, and appears as an