The Out-of-Town Lawyer

This legal thriller’s title is reminiscent of The Lincoln Lawyer, and Rotstein’s ace storytelling will also bring vintage Grisham to mind. The lead character, Elvis Henderson, even lives out of a vehicle—the camper van that he parks outside the run-down motel where his coworker, Margaret Booth, stays while they defend the case that has Alabama rapt. Destiny Grace Harper is accused of murdering her twin babies, but not by any action she took. She didn’t save them because her strict Christian church doesn’t believe in medical treatment. When her babies were discovered to have a lethal condition in utero, one that could be reversed with a simple surgery, Destiny Grace ran away rather than succumb to the court-ordered procedure. Now Elvis is up against pro-life locals, his client’s refusal to cooperate in her own defense, and a judge that’s just as stubborn. Both his wily arguments and the prosecutors vigorous rebuttals are spellbinding enough, but the story also digs into the rot that’s sometimes behind nice-family facades and small-town politeness. With James Patterson a former co-author of Rotstein’s (in The Family Lawyer), this has a ready-made audience, but newcomers to Rotstein will soon want more too.