Free 4/29/2017 - 5/1/2017!
This is a legal thriller with many social and legal issues woven into its plot. It is set in the early 1990's and tells the story of the first woman lawyer to practice in a rural Southern county where the good old boys are firmly in control. She is appointed to represent one of the most hated men in the county. Her client is Hispanic, a drifter who has just been charged with the murder of one of the legal community's favorite paralegals. The victim worked for the premier lawyer in the county. That lawyer is about to announce his candidacy for governor of the state. And that's just the beginning of the complications brilliant young trial attorney Elizabeth Shaw will face in the trial of a lifetime that she feels obligated to take. As Elizabeth begins to work on the case she never wanted to take, she learns that the candidate has a number of dirty little secrets that could affect his run for governor. First and foremost, he is a womanizer who has left a trail of broken hearts around the county. Elizabeth's job is made even worse when the first DNA ever used in a trial in that area shows definitively that her client had sex with the victim while her client adamantly claims his innocence. Her attorney/client relationship is also impacted by something from her distant past that makes her position even more complicated. It is a book about the arc of change from the prejudices of the past to a more hopeful future. It is filled with twists and turns that examine ethical and legal questions in a way that heightens the impact of the characters.