Description:
A lively courtroom drama, made more credible by the author's background as a physician, Chain of Custody features a rich cast of variegated characters. A former cardiologist, Dr. Michael Malone, who is now a consulting lawyer for a large Manhattan law firm, finds himself the chief suspect in the murder of his ex-wife, a successful and well-connected assistant district attorney. The chief prosecutor, Donald Gramb, has political aspirations and wants to humiliate Malone for assisting an indigent prisoner abused in custody by the D.A.'s own police officers. An old friend is insisting that Malone defend him in an effort to keep his research institute open. Malone's son Jess appears to believe that his own father is guilty, and the partners in his law firm are ready to bail out on him. The forces arrayed against the wise-talking Malone and his wily attorney, Arnie Glimcher, seem invulnerable. The resulting courtroom confrontation, the maneuvering, the surprises, and the slow revelation of deeper and deeper conspiracies is interrupted with bursts of violence, passion, and confrontation. The ending is a well-prepared surprise, and you'll enjoy all the apparently contradictory details clicking neatly into place. --Barbara Schlieper
| 
