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Prejudicial Error


Bill Blum - 1995
    district attorney’s office finds a second home at Swanson’s Bar and Grille. Since his resignation from the D.A’s office, he’d done his best with small-time criminal cases. So, finding a place to drown his sorrows seemed appropriate. Lead dancer, Sally Sutton, kept the Mustang Club ahead of its competition. Fully packed until the lights went out, the Mustang Club was popular amongst business men and general party-animals. But ‘Mustang Sally’ hadn’t always lived her life in the limelight. Coming from a small Nebraska farm, her career aspirations had taken her along several small-time roles, before she was noticed. Sally was tight with some of the local police. Particularly Jim Rowinski, a SWAT team specialist who was gearing himself to becoming a homicide detective. Hot-headed and rash, he would do anything to get his way. When Joe Richards, a fifteen-year veteran is shot dead outside the Mustang Club, in Sally’s presence, Juan Javahn Thomas, notorious for his gang-banging lifestyle, is arrested. Homicide Lieutenant Tom Gallagher, Rowinski and Mary Delgado, the only female member of the arrest team, are present at the time of the arrest. To Solomon’s surprise, Judge Burton Lawler and D.A. Simon Lasker appoint him as the public defender in the case of Richards’s murder. Worse still, he was to go up against the prosecutor, Howard Ainsworth, the man who had taken his place as chief deputy, his arch-nemesis! In a bid to redeem himself, Solomon takes on the case. Ignoring all the insecurities that engulf him, he launches himself into the electrifying thrill of the courtroom. Working with his ally, Jimmy Johnson and going up against his former lover, Mary, Solomon’s task is taken up a notch. In the courtroom, as the trial unfolds, Solomon races against his opponent. Determination driving him, the details that unfold point to Sally knowing more than she originally let on. Bringing Sally back in under the heat of scrutiny, she breaks. It is all Solomon needs, yet the outcome is one no one was expecting…Prejudicial Error is a legal thriller filled with suspense that will keep you gripped until the very end. Bill Blum is an experienced attorney. Familiar with the ins and outs, and the pitfalls of criminal procedures, he presents a riveting, hard-hitting and authentic legal thriller, one that offers a fascinating insider’s look at the shifting political dynamics within the criminal justice system. Bill Blum has also written for a wide array of publications, including the Los Angeles Times, ABA Journal, The Nation and California Lawyer , hosted a radio talk show, and lectured widely. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and family.

The Inspector Thanet Mysteries Volume One: The Night She Died / Six Feet Under / Puppet for a Corpse


Dorothy Simpson - 1994
      Detective Inspector Luke Thanet may be a family man with a soft heart and bad back, but he also has a bloodhound’s nose for murder. With Sgt. Mike Lineham at his side, no mystery is too tough.  The Night She Died: Beautiful Julie Holmes lies dead in her front hall with a kitchen knife through her heart. The perpetrator could have been a burglar, a jealous husband, or a spurned lover, but the real answer may lie in a death that happened twenty years ago.  Six Feet Under: Middle-aged cleaning woman Carrie Birch doesn’t strike Thanet as a likely candidate for murder. But when he digs up the dirt on her, he discovers a surprisingly long list of suspects.  Puppet for a Corpse: Dr. Arnold Pettifer is dead from an apparent overdose, but Thanet isn’t so certain it’s suicide. After he discovers the doctor’s pregnant wife had a lover, he begins to suspect her—but then again, nothing about this case is what it seems.

9 Scorpions


Paul Levine - 1998
    The airline CEO calls in a favor from a newly appointed Supreme Court clerk -- a former stripper he put through law school and took as a mistress. To what lengths will she go to secure the swing vote and keep her past a secret?

The Torment Of Others / The Mermaids Singing


Val McDermid - 2004
    The scene matches in every detail a series of murders two years ago-murders that ended when irrefutable forensic evidence secured the conviction of a deeply disturbed young man named Derek Tyler.But there's no way Tyler could have killed the latest victim. He's been locked up in a mental institution since his trial, barely speaking a word. So is there a copycat?All his years of experience tell top criminal psychologist Dr. Tony Hill that there isn't-but that would make the murders literally impossible. While Hill tries to crack Tyler, DCI Carol Jordan and her team must mount a desperate undercover operation to trap the murderer-a decision that will have terrible consequences.The Mermaids Singing:This was the summer he discovered what he wanted--at a gruesome museum of criminology far off the beaten track of more timid tourists. Visions of torture inspired his fantasies like a muse. It would prove so terribly fulfilling.The bodies of four men have been discovered in the town of Bradfield. Enlisted to investigate is criminal psychologist Tony Hill. Even for a seasoned professional, the series of mutilation sex murders is unlike anything he's encountered before. But profiling the psychopath is not beyond him. Hill's own past has made him the perfect man to comprehend the killer's motives. It's also made him the perfect victim.A game has begun for the hunter and the hunted. But as Hill confronts his own hidden demons, he must also come face-to-face with an evil so profound he may not have the courage--or the power--to stop it...

Death on Demand / Design for Murder


Carolyn G. Hart - 2008
    Hart delivers a novel approach to murder that is sure to enthrall you until the last killer is caught.. . .Death on DemandAt Annie Laurance’s Death on Demand bookstore in Broward’s Rock, South Carolina (“the finest mystery bookstore north of Miami”), murder suddenly isn’t confined to the shelves. An author’s abrupt demise during a gathering of famous mystery writers is proof positive that a bloody sword is sometimes mightier than a brilliant pen. But now Annie is in the unenviable position of prime suspect, which means that she and her wealthy paramour, Max Darling, must unmask a brutal and ingenious killer. For Annie, failing could mean prison . . . while success could mean her death.Design for MurderWhen Annie stages a Mystery Night for Chastain, South Carolina’s annual antebellum house tour, she finds herself the lead in a deadly drama wherein the curtain falls on a mean-spirited grande dame. But while fingers point at Annie as the murderer, the perpetrator lurks within the cast of Murder-Most-Make-Believe. Guilty until proven innocent, Annie hopes to clear her name with Max’s help—until her chief witness is killed. Now it will take all of Annie’s sleuthing skills to unmask the evil in the hearts of Chastain’s Beautiful People.

The Twelve Apostles


William J. Coughlin - 1984
     Nelson & Clark is so awesome in its influence, so elite in its international prestige that its senior partners are known irreverently as “The Twelve Apostles”. Beautiful Christina Giles wants the vacant Apostle’s chair, and she has the legal prowess and political savvy the position demands. But first she must outwit a ruthless, Eurasian tycoon with a maniacal desire to possess her. He attempts to use her as a pawn in a dangerous corporate takeover which has the potential to destroy the greatest law firm in the world. And even if she can escape from his clutches, Christina must then defeat — and maybe destroy — her lover, brilliant fellow lawyer Dan Spencer, in a hard-core power struggle only one of them can survive… The Twelve Apostles is a gripping legal thriller that explores the corruption and betrayals that surround a rise to power. Praise for The Twelve Apostles “Fast-paced … the passions, personal and professional, of $500- an-hour corporation lawyers and the robber barons they serve.” — Publishers Weekly “big money, big power, sex and suspense … satisfying!”— Washington Post Book World Praise for William J Coughlin “In Charley Sloan … the author has given us a character we can care about. The verdict here is that Coughlin wins decisively in his final case.” – USA Today “A superb book, rich in the elements that make for a wonderful read. Death Penalty is the best of [Coughlin’s] novels … the most enjoyable book I’ve read all year.” – The Detroit News “Bravo! Coughlin brilliantly captures the corruption of the legal system by human error and greed. Thought-provoking and timely.” – Library Journal “Will not fail to please connoisseurs of legal fiction” – American Bar Association Journal William J. Coughlin has combined a career as a United States administrative judge in Detroit with that of a best-selling novelist. His previous, highly acclaimed and successful novels are His Father’s Daughter, Her Honor, In the Presence of Enemies and Shadow of a Doubt .

Strike Zone


Jim Bouton - 1994
    On the mound is 32-year-old Sam Ward--it's his last chance to justify all he has sacrificed for this ultimate start. Behind the plate is aging umpire Ernie Kolacka, who has reasons to use his position to fix the game.

Skylar


Gregory McDonald - 1995
    Everyone loves Skylar Whitfield, Greendown's sexiest charmer. But when it looks like Skylar's the only one who could have killed Mary Lou Simes, the county beauty queen and his longtime sweetheart, Skylar's popularity is put to the test.

Shoofly Pie & Chop Shop: 2 Bugman Novels in 1


Tim Downs - 2009
    So popular did Polchak become that author Tim Downs has now published five Bug Man novels. And now for the first time: the first two Bug Man novels under one cover.Shoofly PieWithin minutes of a murder, the first fly arrives at the scene. Soon there are hundreds, then thousands, and each one knows the victim's story...Thirty-year-old Kathryn Guilford turns to Dr. Nick Polchak, the Bug Man, to help her learn the truth about the apparent suicide of her longtime friend and onetime suitor. Polchak introduces her to a mysterious world of blood-seeking flies and flesh-eating beetles. But there's a problem...Kathryn Guilford has a pathological fear of insects.Now she must confront her darkest fears to unearth a decade-long conspiracy that threatens to turn her entire world upside down.Chop ShopYoung Dr. Riley McKay has worked hard toward her career in pathology. But her promising future is threatened when suspicious activities -- bungled autopsies, concealed evidence, and unexplained wounds -- incriminate her supervising pathologist at the Allegheny County Coroner's Office in Pittsburgh, Dr. Nathan Lassiter. When Riley is ignored by her seniors and threatened by Dr. Lassiter, she turns in desperation to Dr. Nick Polchak, the Bug Man, to help her uncover the truth.From a handful of tiny maggots, Nick and Riley begin to unearth the facts...The flies on the wall can talk.Forensic entomologist Nick Polchak is listening.

Innocence


Karen Novak - 2003
    Her experience has left her haunted by hallucinatory echoes of kids who are not coming back. But when Leslie's own thirteen year-old daughter, Molly, attempts to hire her to find a vanished friend, the echoes start to take their form from Leslie's own troubled childhood. As the search for Molly's friend Lydia gets underway, it becomes apparent that there's much more to the story: a party of eighth graders at Lydia's home got out of hand and has resulted in charges of sexual assault against five thirteen-year-old boys. The once-rural town and now burgeoning suburb of Swifton Woods. Swifton has labored for decades under the stigma of an unsolved series of abductions and rapes of eleven young girls, who came to be known as the Nightingales. An incidental connection between Lydia's party and Swifton's past only fans the public response to an ugly rage. The boys' conviction seems all but inevitable.Molly, however, knows more than she's telling. In trying to honor a solemn promise while negotiating her inherent sense of right and wrong, she finds herself despised by those she most wants to help. At the same time, Leslie's increasing worry for the depth of Molly's involvement begins to weave into her own secret knowledge of the Nightingales' history. In the end, she is left uncertain of every instinct but the one that demands she protect her child. Even if that means she has to betray her own childhood by telling everything.

Gallows View / A Dedicated Man / A Necessary End


Peter Robinson - 2001
    Unfortunately, depravity and violence are not unique to large cities. His new home, the quaint little village of Eastdale, seems to have more than its fair share of malefactors.In this collection of Inspector Banks's first three cases in Yorkshire, CWA Dagger in the Library and Edgar Award-winning author Peter Robinson introduces a detective as brilliant as he is complex. These intricately plotted, gritty novels of suspense lay the foundation for a remarkably acclaimed detective series.'The Banks novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong.' STEPHEN KING

The Veiled One and An Unkindness of Ravens


Ruth Rendell - 1988
    Before he can find the answer, he’s nearly killed himself—by a politically motivated car bombing targeting his activist daughter. With the inspector in the hospital, the case falls to his partner, Mike Burden. But when a strange mother and son are suspected, Burdon’s trail leads him down a very twisted road.  An Unkindness of Ravens: When a neighbor’s husband vanishes, Chief Inspector Wexford suspects the cad most likely ran off with one of his girlfriends. However, there are a few nagging concerns, like the man’s suspicious letter of resignation and his abandoned car. And is it just a fluke that his disappearance coincides with a rash of stabbings—all straight through the heart, all with male victims? Behind the seemingly placid domesticity of Wexford’s Sussex neighbors, there’s a growing web of tangling secrets, double lives, and triple-crosses.

Rude Behavior


Dan Jenkins - 1998
    Bored with the cliches of the TV booth, Billy Clyde is hustling to win a new NFL franchise, the West Texas Tornadoes, with a lot of help from his oil business father-in-law, Big Ed Bookman. To build a team you need players, such as Pluribus Uram or Hepatitis Diggs, as well as a coach. Billy Clyde turns to T. J. Lambert, his ex-teammate and current coach of the TCU Horned Frogs, who takes time out from waging his own private war against political correctness. Meanwhile, Billy Clyde's best friend, Shake Tiller, the former all-pro receiver who has gone Hollywood, is directing a movie starring his old flame, the nearly-perfect Barbara Jane Bookman, who happens to be Billy Clyde's wife.

Burned


David Hagberg - 2009
    Her captors were affiliated with early al Qaeda partisans. While this book is fiction, Burned captures the spirit of Yvonne’s resistance and ultimate triumph. Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition with this ISBN here.