A dead body discovered in a rural Massachusetts wetland turns out to belong to a woman with a past: Sandra Nichols, missing for seven months. Wrongful death? Murder one? We’ll leave that to Jerry Kennedy.
Judge Henry Lawler has his own reasons for appointing classmate Jerry Kennedy to try the case of the Estate of Sandra Nichols v. Peter Wade, on behalf of Sandra’s three orphaned children. An old hand at criminal cases, Jerry makes an exception for Judge Henry to try this civil case; after all, what are friends for if not to impose on a guy?
In as much as Sandra was murdered several months before her body was found, alibis are fairly easy to come by—even for Peter Wade, her ex, who is the most likely suspect. Since the evidence is too elusive to establish Wade’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, wrongful death is the easier verdict; Jerry just needs to make Wade’s guilt 51% certain.
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“Higgins is a grandmaster of the written word. Through Kennedy’s running dialog with those around him, he creates an intimacy between the reader and his characters and offers great insight into the way an attorney works for a client. This nugget of legal machination should be purchased by all public libraries.”
— Library Journal
“George V. Higgins keeps upping the ante. He’s proved again and again that he can write novels driven solely by dialogue…It’s no easy trick to make such reportorial talk compelling, but Higgins has mastered it…Face it: Higgins isn’t a novelist, he’s a magician.”
— Booklist“What would be an ordinary case for any other lawyer emerges at the far side of Higgins’ looking glass in dazzlingly kaleidoscopic slabs of dialogue…Fans will know exactly what to expect, and treasure it accordingly.”
— Kirkus ReviewsGeorge V. Higgins (1939–1999) was a lawyer, journalist, teacher, and the author of twenty-nine books, most notably The Friends of Eddie Coyle.
Ian Esmo is an audiobook narrator who specializes in athlete and sports biographies.