Fortuitous Justice

WHEN THEY THROW THE BOOK AT YOU, WHO YOU GONNA CALL? ANSWER: You'd better call top Minneapolis criminal defense attorney Marc Kadella.

FORTUITOUS JUSTICE

I have an image in my mind after reading this book. It is of a loom, with hundreds of threads hanging out. The weave adjusts some of the threads, moves the shuttle, and does it again – and again, until after many repetitions, you start to see an image. As the process of weaving continues, the image grows and changes and ends up being something you had not expected.

Thus it is with this novel. There are more threads than in previous works and the final image is wonderfully complex. The author manages to juggle a large cast of well-drawn characters with a list of complicated legal and criminal issues, and does it all so clearly that prior attendance at law school is not necessary.

In short – a great crime story, and a terrific and VERY engrossing read.

Fixer Burt Chayson had well and truly fixed it this time. About to be charged in a vote-buying scandal, he was overheard declaring that if he went down, he'd take some people with him. Within hours he's dead, and, at first glance, it looks like a suicide—until incriminating fingerprints are found.

The suspect—and Marc's client—is realtor Hope Slade, one of a group of law-breaking former Vikings cheerleaders, now known as the Suburban Housewife Hooker Ring. Hope's had a little bad luck lately—her husband threw her out, her children no longer trust her, and she's already facing a plethora of other criminal charges. All she needs is a murder rap.

But not only are her fingerprints on the murder weapon but the victim, a client of several of the Housewife Hookers, was last seen with her.

Relying on the SODDI (Some Other Dude Did It) defense that's worked so well for him before, Marc knows he'll have no trouble coming up with other suspects. But even if Hope's not convicted of the murder, she faces RICO, prostitution, and money laundering charges.

And it's not just Hope. The Grand Jury's thrown the book at the entire hooker gang, apparently in an attempt to squeeze them for information on much bigger fish – a major local drug wholesaler. And danger shadows them since some of those people the fixer had planned on taking down with him want to make sure the hookers don't spill Burt's pillow talk.

Carstens has outdone himself, laying out an amazingly intricate narrative that leads to a supremely satisfying flashbang! resolution that nobody sees coming – not even Marc.

A must-read for fans of taut legal thrillers like those of John Grisham, Richard North Patterson, Brad Thor, John Ellsworth, and Scott Pratt.