Snap Judgment

SnapJudgment

by Marcia Clark

Thomas & Mercer

Criminal lawyer Samantha Brinkman is used to sparring with respected attorney Graham Hutchins on a TV legal show, and he turns to her for help when his daughter Alicia is murdered. After a high-pressure upbringing Alicia Hutchins won a place and much-needed independence at USC, and she seemed to have a glittering future. When Alicia was found with her throat slashed, suspicion turned on her controlling ex-boyfriend Roan Sutton – but then Sutton is found dead a few days later. Was it suicide – or did Graham Hutchins avenge his daughter?

A witness places Graham at the scene, but he denies any blame for Sutton’s death. Samantha and her team, investigator Alex and BFF/receptionist Michy set to work on the case, but uncover more questions than answers. Alicia’s halo slips a little as Samantha investigates the circumstances. Was Alicia a good girl having fun for the first time in her life, or were there darker forces at work? Matters are complicated for Samantha when a big time criminal shows up to call in a favor. Javier Cabazon isn’t the kind of guy you can say no to. He wants an important witness tracked down – or Samantha and her father Dale will pay the consequences. With Cabazon’s deadline, and the police closing in on Graham Hutchins, Samantha and her friends need to pull out all the stops. She plays by her own rules and is willing to bend or break any law to get results – but can Samantha cut through the mass of motives and family secrets to pull it off this time?

SnapJudgment sees the return of a terrific character in Samantha Brinkman. Marcia Clark renders the world of high-stakes law and flexible morals in perfect three dimensional clarity. 

 

Her Beautiful Monster - review

Her BeautifulMonster

by Adi Tantimedh

Leopoldo & Co./Atria/Simon & Schuster.

Ravi Chandra Singh, investigator with Golden Sentinels of London, thinks he’s a holy fool. To him the gods of Hindu mythology are far from mythical: he sees them everywhere (except when he’s making love to gorgeous girlfriend Julia – the gods do have some discretion). His colleagues know about his oddity, yet they’re fine with it. His Machiavellian boss Roger Golden even sees Ravi’s budding shamanism as an asset to the firm. As for Golden Sentinels’ own implanted CIA spook Marcie, who knows what she really thinks?

The case of a Russian oligarch’s missing will leads Ravi and Co to a murderous family of blue-bloods. The case is wrapped up with the firm’s usual skill, but the result has disturbing geopolitical implications. To give them a break, Roger sends Ravi and Julia on an easy fact-finding assignment to observe the firm’s LA office at work. 

La-La Land lives up to expectations, with wannabe movie stars, beautiful people, and celebrities causing scandals. No scandal has the potential to be bigger than the case of Hollywood mogul Gossamer Rand Ross. Ross’ enthusiastic amateur efforts to assist the CIA in a little matter of gun running comes off the rails when brush fires encircle the city. Ravi and Julia are dragged into the middle of it all, and things turn especially hairy when old faces from Ravi’s past show up – including Ravi and Julia’s former lover Ariel, mercenary and sociopath extraordinaire. When Ravi sees the goddess Kali licking her lips, he knows the smelly stuff is going to hit the fan. Are the gods here to help, or are Ravi and Julia heading for a fatal fall?

Her BeautifulMonster is a rollicking journey through the dystopian world of modern mores, where East meets West in a fusion of laughter and wince-inducing pathos. 

The Concert Pianist

The Concert Pianist
Judy & Keith
Devine Destinies Books
Purchase link
Authors' web page

Thirteen year old Elizabeth Crenshaw has a very unusual gift--she can play the piano compositions of a murdered UCLA music student. In Judy and Keith's The Concert Pianist, the mystery of who killed student Lola Schumann after she leaves the bar where she plays piano takes a very interesting twist. Elizabeth's mom always wanted a piano, so she buys one at an auction. Elizabeth sits down at the keyboard and begins playing like a professional almost immediately.

Curious, Elizabeth looks inside the piano and finds a letter written by Lola. It says that she witnessed a drug-related killing and if anything happens to her, then she wanted to let someone know how her death came about. Elizabeth shares this information with Detective Gareth Lomas.  He investigates and discovers a dirty cop is covering up for the drug dealer who had Lola run over. Gareth is set up and kicked off the force, but he persists in his investigation, even at the cost of his own reputation as one of LA's finest.

The Concert Pianist is a short and intriguing murder-mystery with paranormal elements sure to entertain young adult readers.

Rating: 3 sushi rolls