Legal Fiction

Hundreds of years in the future our civilization is shrunk down but we go on. There is advanced technology, there are robots. And there are clones. E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person, his personality an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human. As such, Smithe can be loaned to other branches. Which he is. Along with two fellow reclones, a cookbook and romance writer, they are shipped to Polly's Cove, where Smithe meets a little girl who wants to save her mother, a father who is dead but perhaps not.

Stephen L. Carter’s thrilling new novel takes as its starting point an alternate history: President Abraham Lincoln survives the assassination attempt at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Two years later he is charged with overstepping his constitutional authority, both during and after the Civil War, and faces an impeachment trial.... Twenty-one-year-old Abigail Canner is a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin and a letter of employment from the law firm that has undertaken Lincoln’s defense....

Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused—he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp—but his attendance was requested personally, by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows. As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions.

On a quiet August morning, Judge Deborah Knott's father, Kezzie, makes a shocking discovery on a remote corner of his farm: the body of a man bludgeoned to death. Investigating this crime, Deborah's husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, soon uncovers a long-simmering hostility between Kezzie and the slain man over a land dispute. The local newspaper implies that Deborah's family may have had something to do with the murder - and that Dwight is dragging his feet on the case.

A battalion of Serbs has been senselessly murdered in Kosovo, and the Green Berets stand accused. Now, Major Sean Drummond, a top Army lawyer, is assigned to investigate this unspeakable atrocity. But of course, no one saw anything. Drummond gets consistently suspicious depositions from all of the Green Berets: Supposedly pursued by Serb soldiers, they left the engagement with wounded Serbs firing at them, and no one can explain the number of deaths.

Dismas Hardy knows something is amiss with his trusted secretary, Phyllis. She’s been behaving out of character and disappearing without notice. Dismas becomes even more concerned when he discovers Phyllis has been reluctantly playing host to her convict brother, a man just released from San Quentin after serving a 25-year sentence for armed robbery and attempted murder. Things take a shocking turn with Phyllis is suddenly arrested at work, accused of being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez, a coyote who’d been smuggling women into the country from El Salvador and Mexico.

Eyes of a Child Ricardo Arias is found dead in his apartment, the gun that killed him wedged in his mouth. The physical evidence might confirm suicide, but there is no doubt that it strongly suggests murder. Degree of Guilt Mary Carelli, one of the most powerful women in TV journalism, is charged with the murder of America's most eminent novelist, Mark Ransom. The Lasko Tangent William Lasko is a self-made multimillionaire who's got an eye for wealth and influence, the ear of the president, and a talent for using both to get what he wants.

In the dark days of the war on terror, only one man can be counted on to fight injustice, defend the innocent, and insist on a fair and decent trial for all, contrary to New Labour's new anti-terrorism laws. Rumpole's wig may be yellowing at the roots, his gown might be in tatters, but the oldest inhabitant of 4 Equity Court has no use for the word 'retirement'.

No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison eleven years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. And no one is particularly happy to see him again when he’s released after The Exoneration Initiative uncovered evidence that pinned the crime on someone else. In fact, Riley soon turns up murdered, surrounded by the loot from his latest scam. But if Riley was really innocent all along, who wanted him dead?

It's been 10 years since the events that changed Johnny Merrimon's life and rocked his hometown to the core. Since then, Johnny has fought to maintain his privacy, but books have been written of his exploits; he has fans, groupies. Living alone in the wilderness beyond town, Johnny's only connection to normal life is his old friend, Jack. They're not boys anymore, but the bonds remain. What they shared. What they lost.

Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle fell in love with the seductive Barbara Kennerly, and married her, against his better judgment. He should have listened to his intuition. Ed awakens on the morning after his 40th birthday to find that Barbara has vanished, and Ed's money from his business, his bank, and his brokerage accounts has been wired to the Cayman Islands.

Kenzi Rivera is furious. Passed over for promotion at her own father’s firm, the talented divorce lawyer is tired of fighting chauvinism every single day. When a desperate scientist begs for help getting her daughter back, Kenzi can’t resist…even though this client is involved in Hexitel, a group she calls her religion but others call a cult. Kenzi uncovers evidence of disturbing practices at Hexitel involving large sums of money, servitude, and sex. She also learns her client’s lab has been plagued by death threats and cutthroat competition.

Criminal lawyer Marta Richter is hours away from winning an acquittal for her client, millionaire businessman Elliot Steere, on trial for the murder of a homeless man who tried to carjack him. But as the jury begins deliberations, Marta discovers the chilling truth about her client's innocence. Taking justice into her own hands, she furiously sets out to prove the truth, with the help of two young associates.

Cass is stunned when a man she hasn’t seen or spoken to in twenty years wills his law practice to her. His client list contains a single name. Farrah Sibley. Accused of murdering her boss, Farrah has femme fatale written all over her. Beautiful. Smart. Cunning. But is she capable of such a cold-blooded killing? Shot once through the heart, the victim, prominent lawyer Terrence Dowd only had one enemy.

Sara Tate, a Manhattan assistant DA, is on the brink of losing her job. But then she takes a case that may be able to secure her future. Trouble is, it’s much more complicated—and deadly—than it initially appears. While forces within her own office plot against her, an outside threat takes things to another level: Win the case or her attorney husband, Jared, will die. But Jared has received threats, too. Forced to defend the opposition, he learns that, if loses the case, Sara will be killed. Caught in a struggle of emotions and shocking betrayals, both must face the unthinkable.

Lassiter believes that NFL superstar Thunder Thurston, murdered his wife. But the jury said "not guilty." A lawyer is supposed to let it go. Not Lassiter, who vows to become a vigilante.

Abby Endicott, the chief of the District Attorney's homicide unit in Boston, returns in the heart-racing follow-up to Mission Hill. Things are looking good for Abby: she's top pick to be the next District Attorney, and her musician boyfriend Ty has moved in, despite her upper crust family's objections. But a serial killer is on the loose, and with two college-aged girls dead and another missing, time is running out.

Chief of homicide district attorney Abby Endicott hasn't had the easiest adjustment to normal life. Her wealthy Boston family has cut her off because of her dangerous job. However, her personal life is about to be put on hold when the catcher for the Red Sox goes missing and she gets the case. Soon, it's not just a case of a missing celebrity. Another player turns up dead and the frantic search for Rudy Maddox escalates. It's when Abby discovers greased baseballs and mysterious sums of cash belonging to the victims that she realizes this goes far deeper than she realizes.

Jack Swyteck and his family are caught in the crossfire after a deadly school shooting claims 20 casualties - Florida’s fifth mass shooting in as many years - in this provocative and timely thriller from Harper Lee Prize winner James Grippando that touches on some of the most contentious issues roiling America today.

Audrey Spencer has landed her dream job as a Deputy District Attorney and is settling into the career change when the daughter of District Attorney Gregory Pope is found stabbed to death in a nearby park.