I believe that some of the main characters, early on in the book, made several questionable decisions for savvy attorneys (or even for non professionals!) But this is the fourth book in this series that I've read. I knew that the characters and the courtroom procedure and drama would render a rewarding read. I was right!

Armando Acosta is a judge disliked by nearly everyone-- especially the corrupt police officers who are the subject of a grand jury investigation conducted by Acosta. Acosta is arrested on a phony charge of solicitation and is suspended from the bench. However, when the decoy in the arrest turns up dead, it looks as though Acosta will be vacating the bench permanently.

Acosta enlists the help of one of his least favorite attorneys, Paul Madriani, to help him beat the murder charge. In defending the judge, Madriani discovers that the corrupt officers will stop at nothing to protect themselves and their peers.

Madriani suspects that the prosecution's case is missing one vital piece of evidence. His search for that missing piece leads him to the murderer and the motive in a surprise twist ending.

Steve Martini - excellent as usual!

The only reason I gave this book 4 stars is that it started very slowly, but as is normally the case with a Steve Martini novel, it finished with a bang.

EXCELLENT - KEPT ME GOING TILL THE LAST PAGE

It's rare when life manages to touch the seemingly untouchable, but that's the scenario Martini describes so well in this book. One day, Armando Costa is an arrogant judge who has condescended without discrimination to lawyers who must practice in front of him. Then suddenly his life is overturned when an undercover female officer is murdered and the seemingly untouchable judge is arrested for the killing.

Madriani is asked to defend the judge, and this is the tense page-turning story of that defense and of a search for a real killer.

Interesting who done it story.......enjoyed the suspense.

Enjoyed this book, good story, written this review twice, and it went to never never land.
Lawyer Paul Madriani takes on a crooked union, a crooked police department and defends a Judge he dislikes. Along the way, the police department try and get him jailed and disbarred, and will stoop to nothing to stop him from finding out the truth. Twists and turns.

A thrilling legal masterpiece. The twist at the end made it all more beautiful.

What a fun never ending twisting ride on the coattails of the defense legal team for a judge caught up in the fight of his life.

Great courtroom drama. As someone who has practiced criminal law I can say that the author clearly knows his way around a criminal courtroom.

Twists and Turns

Another great legal thriller by Steve Martini though as a trial lawyer I take great issue with some of Madriani's ethical decisions

This was not one of those books that was a big page turner. All though it definitely held my attention. In fact, all the way to the end I kept trying to figure out how 'he' was going to get the Judge off of the charge. GREAT ending!