Her Cold Justice

Dugoni’s third outing for Seattle defense attorney Keera Duggan (after Beyond Reasonable Doubt) is a modest improvement over its predecessor. Keera joined the family law firm after her father, Patsy, nearly ran it into the ground with his drunkenness and negligence. Her latest case has a personal dimension: JP Harrison, the firm’s PI, has asked Keera to defend his nephew, Michael Westbrook, who’s been charged with the double murder of drug dealer John Lockett and his girlfriend, Melissa Scott, who were shot and bludgeoned to death in Lockett’s home. Police suspect that Michael, who has a criminal record, was working for Lockett and killed him over a business-related dispute, but Michael denies it, and Keera believes him. Despite the evidence being largely circumstantial, prosecutor Kim Tran is dead set on a conviction to bolster her reputation for being tough on crime. As Keera gathers evidence to support Michael’s innocence, Dugoni mostly goes through the motions on the way to a predictable conclusion. Still, readers who had trouble with the contrived twists of the previous novel will find this more satisfying. Agent: Rebecca Scherer, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Jan.)