cover image Their Word Is Law

Their Word Is Law

Stephen M. Murphy. Berkley Publishing Group, $14.95 (368pp) ISBN 978-0-425-18478-3

Law and Order San Francisco personal injury lawyer Stephen M. Murphy has talked with dozens of JDs-turned-authors over the years, and in Their Word Is Law: Bestselling Lawyer-Novelists Talk About Their Craft, he gathers their pearls of wisdom into an anthology of interviews. Novelists, both famous and not reflect on their craft in engaging terms, and Murphy is a fine cross-examiner: the bestselling David Baldacci discusses breaking into fiction and laughingly deems himself a ""twelve-year overnight success,"" while prolific author and ""Living Landmark"" Louis Auchincloss rather snobbishly disdains the notion of reading books by ""lawyer-hyphen-authors."" A foreword by Steve Martini (the author of Jury and other novels also contributes an interview) highly praising Murphy should boost sales. (July 2)