Laura and Mark were discovered on the beach in front of the cottage they had built below her mother’s house on an island off the Washington coast. Ellen Arcand is the principal owner of a major engineering firm; Mark is the President and CEO. A renowned artist, Laura has been under treatment for bipolar disorder for years. The night before the murder she and Mark had argued before guests at her mother’s party, but no one had witnessed the shooting.

Dr. Will Hatton is a prominent forensic psychiatrist, his expert opinion is often sought in legal cases. His mother had died when he was a teenager. For two years afterward, he lived with Ed Hauser, a lawyer and Ellen’s long-time lover. Will and Laura had known each other in high school. Murder charges are going to be filed against Laura, and Ed wants him to evaluate her once she regains consciousness. Will is reluctant to become involved because he feels he cannot maintain the necessary professional disinterested distance, but Ed persuades him.

Mary Slattery is a lawyer in Ed’s firm which will handle Laura’s defense. She knows that the insanity defense rarely works in murder trials, but the evidence seems to weigh heavily against Laura. Laura’s psychiatrist has agreed to testify for the state that Laura knows right from wrong. Will agrees to look into Laura’s clinical past to see if there is anything that will prove helpful. He learns that Laura had disappeared for four days when she was fourteen. Dreams that have haunted Laura for years, particularly most recently, seem to be connected with her disappearance. Did Laura murder her husband during an episode of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or did something else happen?

A successful legal thriller combines the elements of a good mystery story and the simultaneous maneuvering of the legal system. For me, the best legal thrillers have dynamic courtroom scenes. Shades of Justice has two - one abbreviated but the other is satisfyingly long. As anyone who is associated with the legal profession knows, rarely is there a Perry Mason-type climax in the courtroom. It may not happen this way in real life, but it makes for engrossing fiction.

The mystery element is equally satisfying. As the narrative progresses, more mysteries surface beyond the first whodunit: who killed Mark? There are twists and turns and complexities to gratify the pickiest mystery reader.

In spite of its having several major characters, Shades of Justice is a plot-driven novel. Even though a fair amount is revealed about the characters’ backgrounds, they never seem multi-dimensional. More attention is paid to the character of Will Hatton than to any of the others, but he remains something of a stock hero-on-a-mission figure. Shades of Justice begins strongly - a helicopter brings Laura’s unconscious body to a hospital ER - and keeps the momentum going until the end. This is a book that is sure to please fans of legal thrillers.

--Lesley Dunlap