My taste in books includes historical fiction, mysteries, techno-thrillers, and military fiction. When it comes to legal thrillers, I turn to Robert Dugoni. He is a lawyer who specializes in civil law. Consequently, his books have traditionally featured civil law cases. Until now.
In Murder One, Dugoni’s fifth book, Seattle lawyer David Sloane is hired by Barclay Reid, a divorcee who had lost to Sloane in a previous case. Reid’s daughter Carly died from a heroin overdose, and the Russian drug dealer who sold the drugs to Carly was arrested but let off on a legal technicality. Reid is incensed. She wants David to sue the Russian in a civil case for every penny the drug dealer has.
Before Sloane can file suit, the Russian is murdered. Reid becomes the prime suspect and wants Sloane to be her defense lawyer even though he has no experience in that field. Reluctantly, Sloane agrees to defend her. Familiar characters from previous books– Sloane’s PI Charlie Jenkins and Jenkin’s wife Alex (Sloane’s researcher)– reappear.
Because Dugoni had little to no experience as a criminal defense lawyer, he interviewed numerous law enforcement officials from prosecutors to CSI personnel to police officers and detectives. His research is documented in an afterword at the end of the book.
—Jim Harris, retired book sales rep
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