Tell No Lies

St. Louis ADA Jack Hilliard has it pretty easy in attorney Compton's less than assured debut. Jack is married to a beautiful and intelligent law professor; he's also the protégé and assumed successor to his influential boss and mentor, DA Earl Scanlon, and is considered by his peers to be an all-around charismatic and upstanding man, both in and out of the courtroom. But all that is hearsay: Jack, for the life of him, keeps making the same mistakes and placing himself again and again in compromising situations—on purpose. In a bid to become district attorney, Jack sidesteps admitting his anti–death penalty stance in order to get elected, then he falls for his campaign treasurer, Jenny Dodson. When Jenny is accused of murder, will Jack provide the alibi that could save her life but wreck his career? Despite Compton's efforts to make Jack sympathetic, many readers will have a hard time caring about a lying, cheating jerk. (May)