A Moveable Verdict

A Hollywood courtroom drama evokes the scandal-ridden exposures of Dominic Dunne in his heyday. Here, we have a young, highly acclaimed film actress on trial for allegedly murdering Marc Sterne, the son of a Hollywood mogul.
The evidence against Romaine Brook is largely circumstantial, yet is, at times, persuasive; …thus, it'’s up to the jury to decide if she'’ll walk the long hard walk or go free.
The presiding judge, Cliff Rhodes, has considerably more at stake in the outcome than ever he imagined; and then there's
the glamorous Audrey Sterne, the victim’s step-mother, and Rhodes’'s paramour of an earlier time. Concealing a prime fact of her past, Audrey Sterne is drawn into the courtroom fray in so many ways that her entire way of life is threatened, including her marriage to Julio Sterne, the mogul and aggrieved father of the alleged murder victim.
And what about Romaine Brook, the accused, who is the celebrated young actress? Is she being framed? Or is she duping the jury by putting on the best performance of her life?
The truth—rarely black or white—begins to emerge when Alonzo Fahey, a private-eye with Quixotic tendencies, unwittingly opens Pandora’s Box, as he makes inquiries in the wrong places, although for the right reasons.
A MOVEABLE VERDICT actually embeds readers in the midst of two trials: the one in the courtroom, and the other taking place behind the scenes. They are all of a piece, cut from the same cloth.
The outcome echoes H. L. Mencken’s observation: "“Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.” "