Burkett, the popular former mayor of L.A., is the Democratic candidate for Senator from California. He has a healthy lead over Republican billionaire candidate Larry Archer, until the arrest. Election day is but 20 days away.
Burkett hires Jack MacTaggert and his partner, Marta “Mayday” Suarez, to defend him on the charges.
Tom Slewzyski, the L.A. District Attorney, is a long time foe of MacTaggert and looks forward to taking an active role in court in the highly public case.
A Sierra Madre police officer, the lovely Regan Fife, assists McTaggert with information she gleans from police records and databases. Her actions are all breaches of privacy and blatantly illegal. No one appears troubled.
Burkett, anxious to clear his name, except with his long suffering wife Bobbi, instructs Jack to proceed to a prelim in 10 days.
Angela G. Archer, the glamorous wife of Larry, is also a trustee of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
In one of the cleverest twists I have seen in crime fiction concerning the arts, Greaves brings Ricky Rio and his crew of graffiti artists into the story. They are the avant garde of the 21st Century.
They make “street art” described as a “quintessentially American art form, like jazz or rap”.
The group’s interests include forms of urban sculpture. They are performance artists as well. They have amazing creative energy. Angela describes Rio as a genius at “agitation and self-promotion”. He is skilled at turning their art into money.
As the book progressed there was less about legal representation in criminal matters and more about participation in challenging estate situations and campaign finance documentation.
The election probabilities shift with every news revelation. Were I reading the book when it was published I would probably have thought the twists not credible. In 2026 it is a standard American campaign drama for high profile races.
Most fictional lawyers have a one dimensional practice. Normally it is criminal law. McTaggert is more of a generalist. He has a good knowledge of California estate law. Since I have always been a generalist in the law I admired that aspect of McTaggert. What dismayed me was that he had but one case to work upon through the book. I have yet to meet a lawyer in a small general practice who is not juggling dozens, if not more, cases at a time.
McTaggert is deft in convincing a judge to issue an order in the estate on slender evidence that allows him to go legally fishing. That would be as much fun in real life as it is for McTaggert in fiction.
Most real life lawyers avoid directly releasing information to the media that is likely to appear in court. Beyond the obvious risks that the media member given the information may not re-state it accurately it is hard to predict reactions to media stories.
McTaggert resembles Michael Connelly’s lawyer, Mickey Haller. Neither McTaggert nor Mickey ever pushed a microphone aside and each is adept at advancing their client’s position through media pressure.
The pace accelerates as the fishing expedition seeks information in Santa Barbara to break the case.
However, McTaggert is playing with fire. Multiple deaths have occurred. He is at risk with his provocations.
McTaggert is quick with the quip. Addressing a remark that he be careful about going into a new relationship after just breaking up McTaggert says:
“On the rebound? Please. I’ve already rebounded. I lead the league in rebounding.”
It is more a mystery with a lawyer as sleuth than legal fiction. I did enjoy McTaggert as a lawyer.
Jack McTaggert joins a select group of fictional lawyers. He is genuinely witty, even funny. Steve Solomon from the Solomon and Lord books by Paul Levine and Mickey Haller are other light hearted lawyers.
In encouraging clients and witnesses to have faith in him McTaggert has a great phrase:
“Trust me, I’m a lawyer.”
Almost always I say.
****
I do like the wit in the pieces you've shared here, Bill. It sounds as though McTaggert is quick-witted and smart, which I respect. You know, it's interesting that you would mention working on only one case. That's one problem I've had with a lot of novels and TV shows that feature police, lawyers, and so on. There is never only one case. I have to confess, I do that in my own writing, too, and it's something I'm aware could be changed for the better. At any rate, I'm glad you enjoyed the novel.
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