Panther's Prey, The Leo Maxwell Mysteries

A San Francisco lawyer confronts a case that strikes tragically close to home in an “outstanding” whodunit by a Shamus Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Leo Maxwell has left private practice and is working as a public defender in San Francisco. He and his co-counsel, Jordan Walker, are in the midst of trial, brilliantly defending Randall Rodriguez, a mentally ill homeless man whom they contend falsely confessed to the rape of a young San Francisco socialite. After their client is acquitted, Leo and Jordan fall into an intense relationship—until Jordan is found brutally raped and murdered in her apartment.

Leo, the last person known to have seen her alive, is the natural suspect, and the police are eager for payback after the Rodriguez case. Then things take a shocking turn when Leo and Jordan’s freshly acquitted client walks into the police station and offers to confess to Jordan’s murder. Upset by the rapidity with which the authorities accept this all-too-convenient confession, Jordan’s grieving father tasks Leo with investigating his daughter’s death. Leo agrees—though he knows exonerating Rodriguez will likely bring suspicion back on himself . . .

“Gripping, dramatically written, and very suspenseful.” —Booklist