Cold Truth

This is "can't put down" murder mystery. He is a terrific writer and very accomplished.

If you haven't read any of Joel Goldman's Lou Mason books, you're really missing out. The Last Witness was nominated for the Edgar Award, and now we are treated with Cold Truth. I won't bother with a synopsis. You can get that elsewhere. Just know that Goldman keeps to form, providing an entertaining read with that great lawyer Lou Mason. Mason makes the stories special. Don't miss this one, or any of the others. Well worth your time.

In Kansas City, TV news reporters catch nationally syndicated popular psychiatrist Dr. Gina Davenport falling from her eighth floor office to her death. Her local radio station manager Arthur Hackett and his wife Carol hire lawyer Lou Mason to defend their troubled twenty-one year old daughter Jordan, who confesses that she pushed the doctor out the window.Lou has doubts as some discrepancies exist in Jordan's account of the event and her actions leading to the murder. Instead he wonders whether former felon, the Svengali-like Centurion Johnson, head of Sanctuary, a place for troubled youth that includes Jordan who is living there, is influencing his client. If the answer is yes as he suspects he wonders how to prove this is so when Jordan seems uninterested in helping her own defense.Though Lou's latest falling in love is fun, Abby Lieberman' "side confession" is a distracter from a solid legal thriller that never slows down until the final attempt on the hero's life. Lou is a delightful protagonist who tries to do the right thing by his client, but as usual ends up in deep trouble just trying to survive. The support cast, both those recurring and those unique to this plot, provide depth to either the investigation or Lou. Joel Goldman provides another fine tale.Harriet Klausner