Sworn to Defend

Rating:
Summary: Another fascinating legal thrillerby the great Ms.Wheat
Review: At the Appellate level, Brooklyn attorney Cass Jamison proves that her client Keith Jernigan could not have committed the robbery that he was previously convicted of, thus obtaining freedom for the innocent man. Subsequently, Cass gets embroiled in a divorce case when her tenant Nellis Cartwright wants her previous settlement with her former spouse, Grant Eddongton, re-negotiated because she insists her attorney, a friend of Cass, botched up the case.

Keith reappears in Cass' life when the son of her secretary is arrested after forming a friendship with the man. Cass suspects that Keith had something to do with the arrest and begins to investigate the man. She learns that though he was framed for the robbery count that she got him acquitted on, he threw acid into the face of a former girlfriend. When Nellis is shot in her office, Cass thinks that she might have been the intended target and wonders if she is again going to on guard until she gets some answers.

SWORN TO DEFEND is a great 250 page mystery novel that fans will swear is one of the best fictions pieces of the year due to an intriguing twist on the story line in which the client is innocent of the charges, but culpable for a more devastating crime. However, the final few pages seem as if Carolyn Wheat needed an upbeat-like ending for a climax, which thankfully fails to take away from a greatand fast-paced tour of Brooklyn that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Fans of urban legal procedurals need to read this novel and Cass' previous two stories (DEAD MAN'S THOUGHTS and MEAN STREAK) for some of the best the crime genre has to offer.

Harriet Klausner