Her Kind of Case: A Lee Isaacs, Esq. Novel

In this dull legal thriller from Winer (The Furthest City Light), Boulder, Colo., attorney Lee Isaacs, who now works for herself after a decade as a public defender, agrees to represent an accused killer, 16-year-old Jeremy Matthews, after being approached by his aunt, Peggy O’Neill. Jeremy’s parents kicked him out for not adhering to their rigid religious doctrines, and Peggy is the one relative who cares about him. Lee has a daunting task: her client has already confessed to the police that he, along with a gang of skinheads, participated in the murder of a gay man, though he claimed to not have known whether the victim was already dead when he joined in kicking the body. And Jeremy refuses to cooperate with her defense, forcing Lee to consider bargaining for the lowest possible prison sentence, even though she believes he’s innocent. Despite the author giving Lee a deceased bisexual husband and martial arts expertise, she fails to emerge as a distinctive character. The plot twists and climax won’t surprise anyone who’s read a similar book before. (Aug.)