Legal Fiction

Arthur Beauchamp, a heralded criminal lawyer, has moved to a quiet island off the British Columbia coast. While trying to recover from a marriage gone sour, his retirement is interrupted by his former law partners - they want Arthur to take charge of the defense trial of Jonathan O'Donnell, the acting dean of a law school. O'Donnell has been accused of rape by one of the students, Kimberley Martin, a smart but arrogant woman who is engaged to a rich businessman.

Peter Hale is a young attorney with a lot to prove. Crossing his father, one of Portland's most powerful lawyers, was a costly mistake. Now, cut loose from his job and his inheritance, Peter's has landed in the public defender's office of a small Oregon town - and in the middle of a high-profile case that could make or break his career. His mentally handicapped client, accused of the savage murder of a college coed, faces the death penalty.

When Dr. Caryn Dryden is found floating dead in her hot tub, homicide inspector Devin Juhle targets a suspect close to home: her husband, Stuart Gorman. After all, Stuart recently asked for a divorce...and he stands to gain millions in insurance. His alibi - that he was at his cabin on Echo Lake that weekend - doesn't keep him out of hot water. But maybe a shrewd attorney will.

Thaddeus Murfee is 25, single, a lawyer of 18 months, and completely unprepared for the murder case that walks in. While Ermeline was passed out, her date carved his name in her breasts. Heavy, thick letters: V-I-C-T-O-R. The guilty party is found murdered. Or was he guilty? Ermeline is arrested because she had motive and opportunity. She hires Thaddeus, who makes his debut defending his first murder case in this courtroom drama.

When a diplomatic delegation from Bhashyistan is blown sky-high on Bronson Avenue, the shares of a Calgary-based oil company promptly drop like a stone. In no time at all, Arthur Beauchamp is tangled up with wily civil servants, gung-ho cabinet members, recently released eco-terrorists, and possibly the most incompetent spy since Mata Hari.

McMurtrie’s old nemesis, Jack Willistone, is found dead on the banks of the Black Warrior River. Willistone had his share of enemies, but all evidence points to a forgotten, broken woman as the killer. At the urging of the suspect’s desperate fourteen-year-old daughter, McMurtrie agrees to take the case.

Attorney Daniel Raine has recently gone out on his own and is now struggling to make rent. So when he's invited to a fundraiser gala at a downtown Seattle art gallery, he sees it as a chance to find some new clients among the city's wealthy elite. And it works in the most unexpected way—when a young artist is found dead in the women's restroom. The assigned detective declares it a suicide, and the young woman's parents promptly sue the gallery owner for driving their daughter to take her own life. Raine is hired to defend the lawsuit and embarks on a mission to exonerate his client.

Aspiring actress Stephane Olger just wants to be in pictures. But she may end up in mug shots instead when she gets herself caught up in a crime. Shortly after quitting her job and moving to Hollywood, she is picked up by a well-dressed man while hitchhiking. The man loses control of the car and they end up in a horrible accident. Both Stephane and the driver escape unscathed but the strange man flees the scene leaving Stephane to face a charge of manslaughter.

Who killed Philip Rease? Peter Kent was known to be a sleepwalker and a bloodstained knife was found under his pillow. There were people who would like to see Peter Kent out of the way, but would they frame him for murder? And would that explain the reason for Rease's death? It was another case full of traps for Perry Mason.

Teaming up with longtime friends - NYPD's Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace - Assistant D.A. Alex Cooper investigates the disappearance of world-famous dancer Natalya Galinova, who has suddenly vanished backstage at Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera House - during a performance. The three colleagues are soon drawn into the machinations of New York City's secretive theatrical community, where ambition takes many forms, including those most deadly.

Horace Rumpole - cigar-smoking, claret-drinking, Wordsworth-spouting defender of some unlikely clients - often speaks of the great murder trial which revealed his talents as an advocate and made his reputation down at the Bailey when he was still a young man. Now, for the first time, the sensational story of the Penge Bungalow Murders case is told in full: how, shortly after the war, Rumpole took on the seemingly impossible task of defending young Simon Jerold.

When Charlie Blair left Chicago behind—and her old life as Lauren Claybourne—for a gig in the Santa Cruz DA's office, things were supposed to be easier. Or at least nothing that a couple of Xanax and a tumbler of vodka couldn't handle. The plan had been working, until the murder of a local bail bondsman Shelly Hansen. Enter: hotshot prosecutor Erika Lorman, she of the stellar record and unfailing touch with juries, a veritable legend in her own right.

Criminal defense attorney Mitch Turner is tempted to turn down the most recent case that walks through his door because the prospective client, Candy Carlisle, sends out all the wrong vibes. He decides to take it, though, because he is concerned about Candy’s children.

Prosecutor Jessie Black has an airtight case against Tyrone Nash, a gang thug who shot a man behind a bar in West Philly. But what should be an easy trial turns complicated when Nash somehow intimidates her eyewitness, and he recants his testimony on the eve of the trial. Now Jessie's only move to stop the killer from walking is to call a witness she had hoped to avoid - Reggie Tuck, a smooth-talking jailhouse snitch who claims Nash confessed to him during a short time they shared a cell.

Jessie Black's successful prosecution of a serial murderer and rapist put her on the path to stardom at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. Public defender Jack Ackerman represented the opposition, and his spectacular public breakdown after the trial put him in a mental institution and gave Frank Ramsey a second chance at freedom. When Ramsey petitions the court for a new trial with a claim that Ackerman was ineffective, Black must step up to defend him.

In her new thriller, America's #1 best-selling Queen of Suspense delves into a legal battle over the guilt or innocence of a man accused of murdering his wife. Woven into her plot is an eerie, little-understood but documented medical phenomenon - the emergence of a donor's traits and memories in the recipient of a heart transplant.

Bennie Rosato, the founder of the Rosato & DiNunzio law firm, hides her big heart beneath her tough-as-nails exterior, and she doesn't like to fail. Now a case from her past shows her how differently things might have turned out. Thirteen years ago, Bennie Rosato took on Jason Leftavick, a 12-year-old boy who was sent to a juvenile detention center after fighting a class bully. Bennie couldn't free Jason, and to this day it's the case that haunts her.

Childbirth is hard enough under even the best circumstances. But when baby Chase suffers a catastrophic brain injury at birth, his parents are drawn into a hellish whirlwind of medical and legal drama. Thaddeus Murfee, a resourceful, young lawyer, files a malpractice lawsuit on their behalf, but there’s one major problem: the hospital has forged medical records to cover up their mistake. When the case takes an unexpected twist, can Thad stay one step ahead?

Martin H. Ehrengraf, dapper and diabolical, may be Lawrence Block's darkest creation. He's the defense attorney who never sees the inside of a courtroom, because all his clients are innocent - no matter how guilty they may seem. Some even believe themselves to be guilty: They remember pulling the trigger, or wiring the dynamite to their spouse's car, or holding the bloody blade. But things have a way of working out when Martin Ehrengraf is on the case.

After a fallout with his business partner and a breakup with his girlfriend, lawyer Sam Johnstone thinks a long vacation might be just what the doctor ordered. Before he can quit town, Sam gets a call from Lucy Beretta, the wife of the missing local college president. With a shocking accusation against an acquaintance and a plea for protection, Lucy derails Sam's plans for a quiet escape. But when her alleged attacker turns up dead, Lucy is charged with his murder - and Sam is appointed to represent her.