Suffused with disillusionment about our legal system, this mystery by a law professor about a law professor is more interesting in conceit than in execution. Loren Mensing is teaching at New York University School of Law when Kim Hale, who vanished after their brief affair in law school 23 years ago, calls and asks to meet: ""people,"" she tells him, want to silence her. If she doesn't show up, he should ask Joyce Clark how her father, a federal judge, died. After Kim is abducted before his eyes, Loren doesn't disclose Kim's comments about Joyce to the inexplicably intense Det. Sgt. Ted Domjan. Meeting Joyce just before she is murdered, Loren learns she may have been involved with a vigilante group devoted to righting wrongs perpetrated by the courts. Enlisting the help of PI Val Tremaine, who is smitten with the self-satisfied prof, and culling information from legal contacts, Loren explores the mysteries behind Judge Clark's apparently straightforward murder and Kim's disappearance--all the while keeping an uneasy eye out for the unnerving Domjan, who appears when least expected. Nevins (Royal Bloodline) fuels his narrative with dismay at the power of judges and a system that may be most effective at protecting some criminals from punishment. In expressing frustration, he leaves a considerable number of his fictional puzzles unresolved. (June)
