First published 2016
Lu Brant has just won election as Howard County's first female state's attorney, following in her late father's footsteps. She takes on what seems like a straightforward case: prosecuting a mentally ill drifter for beating a woman to death. Howard County rarely sees murders, so Lu views this as her chance to establish credibility in the role. But as she prepares for trial, the case triggers memories of a night in 1980 when her brother AJ killed a man while defending his best friend. AJ was eighteen then and cleared by a grand jury. Now Lu starts questioning what really happened that night and what details her family kept from her as a child. The deeper she digs into both cases, the more she realizes the legal system she has built her career on cannot provide the clarity she seeks. Lu faces the possibility that learning the complete truth might be something she would rather avoid.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, family-drama, legal-thriller
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Howard County
Period: 1980, 21st Century
352 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow
Content warnings: mental-illness