Panther's Prey by Lachlan Smith

Published by Mysterious Press on April 5, 2016

Panther’s Prey begins with the trial of a homeless, mentally ill man who, according to his public defenders, falsely confessed to a sexual assault. Rodriguez has a history of confessing to crimes he didn’t commit. When Rodriguez is acquitted and is later accused of committing another sexual assault (leading to a death), Leo Maxwell (his lead lawyer) doesn’t know whether he should feel guilty for winning his release or angry that the police are focusing on his former client rather than pursuing the real rapist.

It struck me as odd that the police and prosecution would immediately pursue Rodriguez for the new crime. True, some police and some prosecutors are lazy and many are vindictive, so wrongly accusing a guy who was acquitted after they wrongly accused him in an earlier case might satisfy those motives, but it helps to have some actual evidence of guilt that seemed nonexistent here. And whether a judge would allow the client to plead guilty to a new murder, when the guy has a history of pleading guilty to crimes he didn’t commit and when no significant evidence points to his guilt, struck me as unlikely. The novel’s shaky premise troubled me.

In any event, Leo recasts his role from lawyer to investigator and eventually to suspect as he tries to determine who committed the murder. The victim was his co-counsel in the Rodriguez trial, a woman who left a corporate firm to gain trial experience with the public defender’s office. The investigation causes Leo to delve into the motives that other people might have had for killing the former corporate lawyer. More deaths occur as Leo finds himself imperiled (or set up) by a conspiracy.

Plot threads from earlier novels are woven into this one. Series readers will recall that Leo’s father was released from prison after his innocence was established. Someone connected to Leo’s father is killed in Panther’s Prey with a murder weapon that is associated with Leo. Thus Leo is transported from one jail cell to another, accused of this crime and that, all the while trying to solve multiple murder mysteries.

Is the plot a bit much? Maybe, but it’s not so improbable that I couldn’t enjoy it. I was happy to see that the family drama that carried the first three novels was toned down in this one. My biggest complaint is my personal preference for courtroom drama in legal thrillers. After the Rodriguez trial, which occupies a small portion of the book, Panther’s Prey reads more like a detective story than a legal thriller. Lachlan Smith understands the drama inherent in criminal trials. I hope he milks that drama more in future installments. As an investigative/conspiracy novel, however, Panther’s Prey is a fun addition to the series.

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Fox Is Framed by Lachlan Smith

Published by Mysterious Press on April 7, 2015

The family saga that began in Bear Is Broken and Lion Plays Rough continues in Fox Is Framed. We learned in the first two novels that Lawrence Maxwell was wrongfully convicted of killing the mother of his two sons. He may or may not be guilty but the prosecution concealed evidence that might have created a reasonable doubt about his guilt.

Like Lawrence, Leo and Ted Maxwell are both lawyers. At the beginning of Fox is Framed, they win the release of their father on bail. Ted is convinced of his father's innocence but a head wound that Ted received in an earlier novel has shattered his career. Leo continues to feel conflicted about his father even though his father's prison inmate connections may provide a steady supply of clients. In any event, the prosecution decides to take Lawrence to trial again and a new lawyer is appointed to represent him.

When a prosecution witness dies, Lawrence becomes a suspect in that murder, as well. The reader's challenge (and Leo's) is to figure out whether Lawrence had anything to do with the new murder and, if not, to discover the true culprit. Leo knows that proving Lawrence's innocence of the second murder might be the key to an acquittal on the first murder charge, since the prosecution's other evidence of his guilt is scant. Like Leo, however, the reader wonders whether Leo's father might have been the killer in both instances.

Lachlan Smith is at his best when the scenes turn to courtroom drama. He deftly conveys the tension and unpredictability of criminal trials, the risks and rewards of cross-examination, the gambling on strategies that either work or backfire. The novel loses some of its punch when it turns from courtroom drama to family drama but it never descends into melodrama. The novel's ending sets up more family drama in the future, which is unfortunate. I'd like to see this series move in a new direction. Apart from that, the ending leaves certain questions unresolved, which is a cheap setup to force curious readers to continue with the series. That's something I would have done anyway, given my admiration of Smith's ability to craft strong courtroom scenes.

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Bear is Broken by Lachlan Smith

Published by Mysterious Press on February 5, 2013 

Bear is Broken opens with Leo Maxwell describing the scene as someone shoots Leo's brother, Teddy, in the back of the head. Teddy is a successful criminal defense attorney in San Francisco and Leo, having recently passed the bar, hopes to follow in his footsteps. True to form, the police make clear their hatred of criminal lawyers -- particularly Teddy, who successfully defended a man who killed a police officer -- and show little sympathy for Leo. Fed up with the police (and wondering whether they have something to do with his shooting) and with self-righteous prosecutors, Leo decides to conduct his own investigation of his brother's death. He also has the chance to step into Teddy's shoes, to be a "real lawyer" for the first time. As much as Bear is Broken is a legal thriller, it is also the story of Leo's evolution, his entry into adulthood, his transition from student to practitioner.

The unexplained shooting of Teddy may or may not be related to Leo's father, who is serving a sentence for killing Leo's mother, a crime that Teddy always insisted their father didn't commit. Leo's reaction to the shooting is further complicated by his feelings about Teddy, a mixture of love and resentment, and by his growing fear that Teddy was a supremely unethical lawyer. Teddy may have wronged a former client, providing a motive for murder. But there's no shortage of suspects, including the mysterious young woman who shoots Leo with a Taser and her mysterious brother and her mysterious father, and Teddy's mysterious investigator and his mysterious secretary, and a mysterious hooker ....

The plot isn't so much complex or convoluted as it is filled with red herrings, multiple suspects who may or may not have had anything to do with Teddy's shooting. Leo changes his mind about who shot his brother more often than most people change their underwear. In the end, although a couple of plot threads are left dangling, the story works its way to a satisfying conclusion.

Leo finds himself with multiple conflicts of interest as he (1) sleeps with a woman who might have shot his brother and (2) represents a man charged with shooting his brother (although only at an arraignment), even though (3) the principle witness against the charged assailant is Leo's father. I'm not sure I bought any of that, and I'm confident I wouldn't want to hire a lawyer who demonstrates such poor judgment, but it makes for a reasonably good story.

Lachlan Smith has a clear understanding of the dynamics of criminal trials and of the psychology of lawyers and juries. The trial scenes (of which there are few) are some of the best in the novel. At times the writing style is a little trashy ("I gave a cry of pain and astonishment. ... This cannot be. This simply cannot be."), indicative of a first time novelist. For the most part, however, Smith is a capable writer. The novel's pace is steady and his characters are believable. Bear is Broken is a reasonably good second-tier legal thriller from a writer who shows promise.

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