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Legal mystery, suspense, smart fiction

Dion demands justice and a rewarding career making a difference in people's lives, but... be careful what you demand. Nothing is ever as it seems with his clients and they drive him crazy. His girlfriend and clients try to be good, but it's hard work keeping them all out of jail. Justice narrowly prevails at this nexus of the individual and larger questions about justice.

A chance encounter in a lounge gets Dion involved with a "come here, get away" new girl friend. She's an ex-police detective who seems to have a warehouse full of problems. She is running because of a death threat from her corrupt husband, who could attack her at any time.

She involves Dion in interrelated cases in which an injured veteran is accused of hacking, and his friend is accused of vehicular homicide. "Of course" both are innocent, even though they hide multiple secrets protecting others, that Dion must unravel.

A complex legal mystery with subplots, this is "smart fiction," in which very few liberties are taken with the realistic experience of law. The reader is challenged to figure out the mystery - nothing is completely hidden. In the courtroom it emphasizes real legal practice. In the field, it's down to earth. It's a solid and entertaining probe of justice, with a little humor mixed in.

This story takes its inspiration from "Boston Legal" with its unique defenses and humor, with a splash of "Ally McBeal" with its romance, and "Perry Mason" with its attention to investigation and law, and "Conviction" with its emphasis on thoroughness and justice. It is similar in complexity to the British TV series, "Broadchurch." If you like authors like James Grippando and Lincoln Child, you might like this story.