Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson

The question falls to Assistant County Prosecutor Stella Marz. But in each case the character of the dead man seems contradicted by the particulars of his death. The other is Jack Novak, the local drug dealers' attorney of choice.įielding's death with a prostitute, from an overdose of heroin, seems accidental Novak is apparently the victim of a ritual murder. One is Tommy Fielding, a senior officer of the company building a new baseball stadium, the city's hope for the future. In Steelton, a struggling Midwestern city on the cusp of an economic turnaround, two prominent men are found dead within days of each other. NB: This book is also called Caroline Masters. Now, with her family's fate-and her own reputation-hanging in the balance, Caroline must assume the role of a lifetime as she fights to save her niece. As the trial heats up, Caroline finds herself up against those who would kill to keep dark secrets hidden…and the state prosecutor, who happens to be her former lover and will do anything to expose the truth.

Now that she's back home, she can't help but doubt her family's motives-and Brett's innocence.

She's been summoned back to her affluent New England hometown to help Brett out of this mess…and revisit the troubled family she left behind.Ĭaroline learned a long time ago that the ties that bind can also be broken. She claims she is innocent-even though she's dripping in blood, the murder weapon covered with her fingerprints.Įnter attorney Caroline Masters, Brett's estranged aunt. His girlfriend, twenty-two-year-old Brett Allen, is found at the scene of the crime. Nancy Clair, and currently divides his time between Martha's Vineyard, San Francisco, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.Ī young man has been murdered.

Since officially retiring from his law practice in 1993, Richard has written more than 20 bestselling novels. The Lasko Tangent (1979), his debut novel and first installment of the Christopher Paget Series, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel the following year. He also served on the boards of several Washington advocacy groups. Richard North Patterson is an American attorney, political commentator, and bestselling author of mystery, political thriller and legal thriller novels.Ī graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he received the prestigious President's Award for Distinguished Alumni, Richard worked as a trial lawyer for several years before turning to fiction writing.ĭuring his time as an attorney, Richard served as the SEC liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor, and the assistant attorney general for the state of Ohio.

Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson