Delayed Justice

Book 6 may not have been the best place to start with the Marc Kadella legal mystery series, only because it indicated that I missed some fantastic writing in books 1-5. The mystery of who-done-it just kept twisting around plausible obstructions to justice. The characters were all "well connected" and produced plenty of evidence concerning the alleged killer's innocence, but could not be properly brought to bear on the case.

Psychopaths, sociopaths, bureaucrats, double-crossers, and legal technocrats, and a wonderful philanthropist combined to produce one of the most enthralling and spellbinding stories I've ever read. For the complexity of the plot alone, I'd give this book more than 5 stars!

Fraud leads to murder… and this time, it's personal.

Celebrated criminal lawyer Marc Kadella knows the importance of personal connections in his line of work. In Dennis Carstens' sixth Marc Kadella legal thriller, his old buddy Tony Carvelli, a private investigator, asks him to take on a drug case for his well-off friend's delinquent kid and he agrees—even though he's had it with drug cases. Marc enlists the help of PI Maddy Rivers, his longtime best friend and confidante, to dig up dirt on two cops suspected of planting evidence on the bust. With Carvelli's connections (the guy knows everybody), Marc is able to infiltrate the St. Paul police force and expose gross incompetence. But when it comes to prodding Maddy about her new beau, Marc's got bupkis.

Maddy has her reservations about her new relationship with Rob Judd. Sure, he's a handsome and brilliant investment analyst in a wildly successful securities management firm. But he's constantly distracted. It seems something about the firm's not quite right—or so he finally lets on to Maddy. Its returns are consistently solid, maybe a little too solid—or so suspects Patrick McGarry, one of Rob's co-workers. After voicing his suspicions to Rob, Patrick heads up north for a weekend hiking trip—and winds up dead. It's only a matter of days before Rob is next. And Maddy's found unconscious at the gruesome scene of the crime, clutching the murder weapon.

Convinced Maddy was framed, Marc decides to take on the case in spite of his close connections to the client. He finds he must delve deep into the complex money laundering schemes of Rob Judd's employer—and its connections to a ruthless Mexican drug cartel and an expert hitman who's fallen off the radar—to save Maddy from false imprisonment. Or worse.

Who will like it: Fans of private investigator mysteries, lawyer thrillers, or, really any kind of action-packed crime novel. But who'll especially like it: readers who enjoy the extra little legal touches you find in John Grisham and Richard North Patterson books.