Missing Justice (Samantha Kincaid Series #2) » (First Edition)

A former deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, Alafair Burke now teaches criminal law at Hofstra Law School and lives in New York City. She is the daughter of the acclaimed crime writer James Lee Burke. Her three novels in the Samantha Kincaid series, Judgment Calls, Missing Justice, and Close Case, are available in paperback from St. Martin's Press.

MISSING PERSON

Newly promoted Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid's first assignment back after a much-needed vacation is a hot one: Judge Clarissa Easterbrook has gone missing from a wealthy Portland neighborhood, and Sam has to make the DA look good until the prodigal judge returns. Yet it soon becomes clear that the woman didn't vanish voluntarily-and it's no surprise when her bludgeoned body turns up at a local construction site.

MISSING PROOF

What is surprising is how quickly a suspect is apprehended while Clarissa's husband, a prominent surgeon, is cleared of suspicion. It all seems a bit cut-and-dried to Sam, especially when she discovers that Clarissa was keeping secrets that the city's elite would prefer to stay hidden.

MISSING JUSTICE

Now, with each piece of the puzzle she uncovers, Sam is getting closer to the truth-and to the wrong side of some very powerful people. It seems Clarissa's secrets may have caught up to her in the worst of ways. And in her quest to exonerate an innocent man, Sam could be next in line...

"A wonderful writer, with the kind of skill I most admire...I'm a big fan"

-Sue Grafton

"A very clever whodunit long on red herrings, shadowy motives, and sly humor."

-Booklist

Publishers Weekly

In Burke's lively second Samantha Kincaid mystery (after 2003's Judgment Calls), the Deputy District Attorney has just joined the Major Crimes Unit in Portland, Ore., when a local judge, Clarissa Easterbrook, goes missing and is then found murdered. As Kincaid sifts through possible suspects, she also adjusts to the personalities in her new office, including her surprisingly friendly supervisor. Evidence of the judge's affair with a politician and an increasingly confusing crush of contracts, judgments and financial papers make it difficult to believe that Kincaid would seriously consider Melvin Jackson, a poor black man, as the likely murderer. A former drug addict, Jackson was in danger of losing custody of his kids in a case Easterbrook was considering just before her death. Eventually, Kincaid turns to a more obvious source of trouble. Kincaid is an appealing if perhaps too familiar a type-a slightly seasoned, feisty woman who runs impressive distances and confides her endearing foibles to the reader. Burke does a good job of integrating the political and personal lives of her characters, with the detectives of the Major Crimes Unit being particularly well drawn. Witty and concise dialogue helps redeem the somewhat stiff plotting. Agent, Philip Spitzer. (June 2) Forecast: Blurbs from such big names as Sue Grafton, Lee Child, Michael Connelly and Linda Fairstein, plus Burke's being the daughter of James Lee Burke, should help ensure a successful national author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.