False Witness by Phillip Margolin

Published by Minotaur Books on November 11, 2025

Karen Wyatt was a respected criminal defense lawyer until she was convicted of a drug crime and sentenced to prison. Although the drugs were planted, a dealer testified that he sold them to Wyatt and a crime lab technician falsified a report that claimed her fingerprints were on the drugs.

Wyatt was set up in retaliation for proving that a biker charged with assaulting a cop during a raid on the biker gang clubhouse was actually the victim of the cop’s assault. A video showed that the cops who set up the raid were stealing drugs and cash from the bikers. The cops were also taking payoffs from a rival gang. They were more than a bit irked that Wyatt exposed their illegal actions.

The crooked crime lab tech is caught stealing cocaine and makes a deal that requires him to tell the truth about Wyatt. That fortuitous circumstance leads to Wyatt’s release from prison. Most of that backstory is told in flashbacks.

Having settled a civil rights claim for wrongful imprisonment, Wyatt has become a wealthy lawyer who can pick and choose her cases. She knows that a prosecutor in the DA’s office was in on the scheme that sent her to prison but she doesn’t know that person’s identity. People who might know the whole story, including the the cop who coerced the crime lab technician and the drug dealer who testified against Wyatt, are soon murdered. Wyatt’s attempt to find the truth about the scheme to send her to prison drives the plot.

A wealthy guy named Terrance Corgen is another murder victim. His body is discovered after someone reports his Jaguar missing. Police pull over Jack Blackburn while he’s driving the car. Blackburn claims Corgen’s chauffeur, Billy Kramer, met him in a bar and asked him to drive his girlfriend home in the Jaguar. Blackburn swears he never went inside the residence but the police found a glass with his fingerprints in the room where they found Corgen’s body. Blackburn seems to be on a path to a murder conviction. The story threads weave together when Wyatt agrees to represent Blackburn.

Two Portland homicide detectives, Chad Remington and Audrey Packer, investigate Corgen’s death. Another suspect is Thomas Horan, a Congressman who believes he was abducted by space aliens after expressing skepticism about alien visitors during UFO hearings. There is evidence that Horan may have been in Corgen’s home and his only alibi witnesses are space aliens. They won’t be coming to court.

Phillip Margolin ties these disparate storylines together in a way that is entertaining if implausible. The explanation for the alien abduction tested my willingness to accept unlikely plot developments. I also found it hard to believe that the sadistic leader of a motorcycle gang is also a Mensa member, but I suppose bright people can be sadistic. Motorcycle gang members are easy targets, but corruption within a legal system that depends on honest cops and prosecutors adds a bit of depth to the story.

The corrupt prosecutor’s identity requires Wyatt to discern the meaning of “Starlight,” the word uttered in a dying breath by another murder victim. Why did the dying man utter the word “Starlight” rather than simply naming the prosecutor? Because the novel wouldn’t have gone on for another fifty pages if he’d given a straightforward answer. When writers substitute “for the sake of the plot” in place of realistic actions, the story suffers. Even with that plot device, the corrupt DA’s identity is easy enough to guess.

Setting aside my reservations about plot elements that come across as forced, I appreciated the trial scenes and the effort Margolin made to give Wyatt a personality. False Witness isn’t among the best legal thrillers of recent vintage, but it is far from the worst.

RECOMMENDED

The Dagger in Vichy by Alastair Reynolds

Published by Subterranean Press on July 22, 2025

Alastair Reynolds writes some of science fiction’s most entertaining space operas. The Dagger in Vichy is not that. Promotional materials market the novella as a blend of fantasy and science fiction, but I don’t think it’s that either. Arthur C. Clarke’s familiar observation that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” is at work here. The novella is grounded in credible science, but much of the science has been lost as society has regressed to a state that approximates medieval times. I view The Dagger in Vichy as a blend of Arthurian fiction and science fiction, with lost science taking on the role of magic.

The story takes place in a future France. It is the thirty-second year in the reign of the nineteenth Imperator. The characters live in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event, but one that occurred hundreds of years earlier, so distant from the present that it no longer merits discussion.

A playwright and a group of actors are traveling in a horse-drawn wagon, performing at small venues, on guard against an ambush by plundering thieves. They have a particle-pistol and Bernard, an ex-soldier, carries a carbon-bladed dagger “with a nugget of depleted uranium lodged in the hilt.” Although some advanced technology has survived, most has been lost or exists as relics from the Twilight Centuries. Fortunately for humans in need of transportation, horses endure.

The playwright is Guillaume of Ghent. His best writing years are behind him and he knows it. He no longer has a cheery disposition. “The good humour and charity that once flowed out of him without ease had reduced, like his pissing, to a miserly trickle.”

The narrator is Rufus, a boy who is in service to Guillaume after being rescued from the gallows for stealing food. A few other players make up the troupe.

The traveling actors happen upon a dying Knight of the Imperial Guard who implores them to take a wooden box to the Imperator in Avignon. Bernard, ever loyal to the Imperator’s troops, swears he will make the delivery.

Of course, the knight warns them not to open the box. Of course, they do. The object in the box, at first seen only by Guillaume but heard by an eavesdropping Rufus, seems to have supernatural powers.

For reasons best discovered by the reader, Bernard and Guillaume become divided about the wisdom of taking the box to Avignon. The dissolving bond of two old friends and the desperate action one of them takes against the other gives the story its drama.

The true nature of the object in the box will slowly dawn upon most readers, perhaps more quickly than it dawned on me. I admire the craftsmanship with which Reynolds sets up the reveal. His vision of a future France is easily captured without excessive description, as he draws upon familiar images of traveling shows and mounted knights (albeit knights armed with particle weapons). The plot is clever and the resolution is satisfying.

Subterranean is marketing The Dagger in Vichy in a signed limited edition. If you’re not a collector, it’s also available as an ebook.

RECOMMENDED

The Widow by John Grisham

Published by Doubleday on  ‎ October 21, 2025

The Widow feels like a novel that John Grisham has written before. The protagonist is familiar — a small-town lawyer in Virginia who writes wills, files bankruptcies, and scrapes by on the limited fees that his working-class clients can pay. The lawyer is accused of a crime and hires a criminal defense attorney who takes his case to trial before the true criminal is unmasked. While much of the story is entertaining, it is also unremarkable — a common failing of Grisham’s work.

Eleanor Barnett, an 85-year-old widow, asks Simon Latch to prepare her will. She seems reluctant to give Simon any information, but claims that her first husband had accumulated stock in Coke and Walmart that is now worth millions. Her second husband, Harry Korsak, had two children from an earlier marriage but Eleanor refused to adopt them because they were troublemakers.

Eleanor reluctantly admits that another lawyer, Wally Thackerman, prepared a will for her, but she feels uncomfortable that the will created a trust that would inherit all her property. Naturally, Wally made himself the trustee. When Simon studies the will, he discovers that Wally also made himself the beneficiary of a bequest of nearly half a million dollars (supposedly as payment for past services). Of course, Wally buried that bequest in the will and neglected to mention it to Eleanor.

Simon isn’t quite as crooked as Wally, but he sees an opportunity. He drafts a similar will, minus the unethical bequest to himself. The will leaves Eleanor’s estate to a trust that Simon will administer. Simon includes a dozen uncontroversial charitable organizations as beneficiaries of the trust. Simon figures to earn some nice fees (at double his usually hourly rate) for administering the trust.

Simon doesn’t want his long-time secretary to realize that he’s acting unethically, so he types the will himself, has it witnessed when she’s out of the office, and tells her that he’s still working out the terms of a will with Eleanor. He also tells Eleanor that she shouldn’t tell Wally about the new will. In the meanwhile, Simon ingratiates himself to Eleanor, taking her to a variety of restaurants for lunch. Eleanor loves the attention and never offers to pay for lunch. Grisham creates interesting uncertainty about whether Eleanor actually has the wealth she claims.

Eleanor isn’t much of a driver, so it’s no surprise when she becomes a bit tipsy with her best friend (another elderly woman), crashes her car, and ends up in the hospital. When she dies from pneumonia, Simon figures his investment of time has paid off. His opinion changes when an anonymous caller tells the police that Eleanor’s death is suspicious. A police detective puts a halt to an impending cremation and, when an autopsy reveals that Eleanor was poisoned, Simon is arrested.

The reader knows from the start that Simon has been framed, but he sure looks like someone who killed his client. The secrecy surrounding his drafting of the will, the haste with which he called the mortuary to arrange the cremation, and the fact that he purchased the cookies that held the poison give the prosecution a reasonably strong case against him. It doesn't help that Harry's kids show up with a lawyer of their own, hoping to get the will set aside so they can inherit their stepmother's estate.

The last third of the novel delivers some of what I crave from legal thrillers: the theatrics, strategy, and dramatic “gotcha” moments of a criminal trial. Simon persuades a criminal lawyer to handle his case for a minimal fee. I was surprised the defense lawyer didn’t make more of the anonymous call — the only person who could know that Eleanor was poisoned is the killer — and was a bit shocked that the lawyer didn’t pursue what seems to be a crucial new piece of evidence that Simon’s law school girlfriend, now an FBI agent, uncovers during the trial. Apart from my reservations about improbable strategic decisions, I regard the trial scenes as the novel’s strength.

Grisham adds interest to Simon’s character by giving him a gambling problem and a failing marriage. While people tend to think of lawyers as wealthy, he makes clear that drafting wills and handling bankruptcies in a small town is not lucrative. Simon might be a broke gambler, but he cares about his children, so if he isn’t admirable, at least he isn’t evil.

The whodunit — the poisoner’s identity — comes out of left field. It isn’t an impossible solution but struck me as a failure of imagination. While the story is sufficiently engaging to earn a recommendation, The Widow nestles into the “good, not great” territory that more than half of Grisham’s novels occupy.

RECOMMENDED

The Dentist by Tim Sullivan

First published in Great Britain in 2020; published by Grove Atlantic on October 21, 2025

American crime novels featuring law enforcement protagonists too often depict the protagonists as tough guy action heroes. British crime novels featuring law enforcement protagonists tend to be more cerebral. George Cross isn’t an action hero (he bicycles to work and doesn’t carry a gun), but he’s a dogged detective. Substituting logic for fists, Cross fights his way to the crime’s solution by exercising his mind. British crime novels make readers smarter.

Cross is challenged by Asperger's syndrome, a condition that makes him socially awkward. He would prefer to avoid social interaction entirely because he finds it painful and pointless. Cross lives with his father, who indulges his need for consistency and doesn’t force him to make small talk.

Cross joined the police because he’s good at solving puzzles. He’s worked his way up to Detective Sergeant in the Major Crime Unit of the Avon and Somerset police. His current partner is DS Ottey, who has “become his apologist and translator with the rest of the world,” a role she does not relish. His superiors tolerate Cross because he is by far the best crime solver in the department.

Cross’ behavior will be amusing to readers but it’s infuriating to his professional colleagues, who regard him as rude. Some fellow officers might be jealous; others might be displeased with Cross’ obsession with order and procedure, an obsession that makes it difficult for them to cut corners.

Tim Sullivan walks a fine line here. Asperger’s is a condition that shouldn’t be mocked, but it does lend itself to comic moments (just as Adrian Monk’s OCD is fertile ground for sprouting laughter). Sullivan balances humor with sympathy for Cross’ plight. After all, Cross didn’t ask for Asperger’s. Trying to interpret social cues so he can behave “normally” is draining. The condition complicates his life, even if it contributes to the obsessive focus that makes him a good detective. A good HR department (the kind that would be condemned as pro-DEI in the US) has encouraged at least some departmental understanding of Cross’ challenges. Sullivan takes the time to humanize Cross, to show the reader how his coping mechanisms (including abrupt departures from social situations that overwhelm him) are misunderstood by those who have no use for empathy.

Because of his Asperger’s, Cross needs things to make sense. That’s the trait that makes him a dogged investigator. If something doesn’t make sense, he needs to understand why. “He followed a strict trail of logic when looking at a case, and couldn't let go when he uncovered a hole in that logic that couldn't be explained away.”

The story begins with the murder of a homeless man named Lenny. Cross and Ottey interview someone at a homeless shelter who last saw Lenny arguing with a man named Badger. They take Badger into custody for questioning, but Badger is intoxicated and doesn’t have a clear memory of his interaction with Lenny. He does recall punching Lenny and on the strength of that memory, confesses to Lenny’s murder.

Cross’ colleagues are satisfied to clear the case, but Cross is troubled because Badger doesn’t seem to know that Lenny was strangled. Cross “needed proof. He needed certainty. Above all, he had an indefatigable need to get it right, to have it in order. For the right person to be found and convicted.” In a tradition that is stronger with fictional police detectives than real ones, Cross continues to gather evidence, hoping to prove or disprove Badger’s guilt with reasonable certainty.

Lenny turns out to have been a dentist who disappeared years ago and was declared legally dead. Lenny was never the same after his mother, Hillary Carpenter, was murdered in her home. Lenny devoted himself to harassing the police, who seemed to be slow walking the investigation. A photo of footprints in Lenny’s backpack was evidence in the case, but why did he have it? For that matter, why did Lenny return home after being missing for so many years?

Cross decides he needs to solve Hillary’s murder, as it seems to be linked to Lenny’s murder. The only significant clue is a red Jaguar that sideswiped a parked car as it raced away from the neighborhood at the time the crime occurred. Cross becomes concerned that the police did too little to track down the car and identify the driver.

The Dentist will appeal to fans of police procedurals. Cross and Ottey interview countless car dealers after learning that a witness recalled that the Jaguar had a dealer’s plate. The detective who led the original investigation, now retired, seems to have been deliberately obstructing it, but why? And how does Hillary’s murder connect to Lenny’s?

A credible plot seems to point to the guilt of an obvious suspect, but a final twist may surprise readers (like me) who prematurely congratulate themselves for solving the crimes. The pace never lags, but this isn’t an action novel. Characterization — Cross’ quirkiness combined with secondary characters who find ways to cope with him — is well above average for a thriller. It makes George Cross a promising new protagonist for crime novel fans to follow.

RECOMMENDED

The Tourists by Christopher Reich

Published by Thomas & Mercer on October 14, 2025

Mac Dekker was a field operative (more specifically, an assassin) for the CIA. In Matterhorn, the first novel in this series, “he’d been betrayed by his best friend and made to look like a Russian double agent. Unable to prove his innocence, he’d faked his death and escaped to the village of Zinal in the Swiss Alps.” Dekker’s best friend was a mole who, some years after Dekker’s disappearance, was responsible for the death of Dekker’s son.

Dekker begins the novel in Paris, where he plans to propose to a Mossad agent named Ava Attal. A month earlier, Dekker’s former boss at the CIA, Don Baker, appeared in Zinal and offered Dekker a return to his former status, complete with back pay, a promotion, and nullification of the “red flag” order to kill him on sight. The offer requires him to remain out of sight, avoiding contact with anyone from his former life, apart from his daughter, Jane McCall, who is serving as the CIA’s acting chief of station in Berlin. Dekker is happy with the deal because it gives him the freedom to live wherever he likes and removes his concern that an assassin’s bullet will find him if appears in public.

In Paris, Dekker takes Ava to a restaurant in the Eiffel Tower where he plans to pop the question. Just as he’s about to pull the ring from his pocket, Ava gets a call on her cellphone. She tells Dekker she needs to have a private conversation and disappears into the hallway. When she doesn’t return, Dekker searches the area, then returns to their hotel. Ava isn’t there because (the reader soon learns) she was abducted from the restaurant. Dekker searches her luggage and wonders why she brought a gun on their romantic getaway. Could it be that Ava was on a secret mission?

The story follows Dekker as he searches for Ava with the clandestine help of his daughter. A female assassin makes occasional appearances. She’s after Dekker, whose return to the CIA’s protection is short-lived after he breaks the rules by involving his daughter in his search for Ava. The red flag has been reinstated, another complication in Dekker’s life.

Interwoven with Dekker’s story are scenes involving Tariq bin Nayan bin Tariq al-Sabah, the second son of the emir of Qatar’s first wife. The older son, Jabr, has been groomed to take over when the emir dies. Prince Tariq won’t inherit the throne so he’s dedicated himself to spending money, hooking up with beautiful women, and hobnobbing with the elite. Nice work if you can get it, I suppose. Tariq earns money of his own as a social media influencer. People are apparently fascinated with the myriad ways in which wealthy men can waste their money and the women who sleep with them.

Tariq is orchestrating one of those diabolical plots that are common in modern thrillers. Jabr has negotiated a treaty between Israel and Gulf countries that is supposed to bring prosperity for all. Tariq opposes the treaty, in part because he is jealous of Jabr, in part because he hates Jews. Tariq has made an unholy alliance with Israel’s defense minister, who believes the treaty will undermine Israel’s regional supremacy. This struck me as plausible; other readers might disagree. I'm not sure how many readers value plausibility in a thriller, so perhaps it doesn't matter.

Tariq plans to use a small nuclear weapon that ISIS pilfered from Israel, a nuke that can only be triggered with the right transmitter and codes that only Israel possesses. Tariq’s plan is to kill the participants at an international conference in Paris where the treaty will be signed, killing his brother and securing his position as emir while eliminating any hope of peace between Israel and the Gulf states.

Christopher Reich flavors the novel with regional history, some of which he invents or embellishes in interesting ways. Reich creates detailed histories of key characters. The reader is challenged to decide whether Ava is a good guy or a bad guy, assuming those terms have clear meanings in the Middle East. None of this bogs down a story that moves at a steady (but not frenetic) pace.

Paris is the intersection point between the story of Ava’s abduction and Tariq’s plan to explode a tactical nuke. The mystery of Ava’s abduction is unsurprising but deftly executed. Action scenes at the story’s end require the protagonists to engage in a clichéd race against the clock, but what would thrillers be without those races?

The novel would probably make a decent movie, albeit one that would need to be dumbed down a bit, as political nuances in the story don’t translate well to Hollywood films. I prefer Reich’s financial thrillers because they play to his strengths (he was an investment banker before he started selling novels), but The Tourists is nevertheless a successful espionage novel, one that is consistent in quality with Reich’s body of work.

RECOMMENDED