A Clean Kill

With his first two mysteries-Sins of the Brother and Dog Island-Mike Stewart proved himself "an authentic Southern voice. . . . Stewart evokes taste, smell, sight, and touch to put the reader right in the middle of the scene" (The Charlotte Observer). Now he's back with a third novel of murder, suspense, and legal intrigue-this time set along the affluent Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay.

When a young woman asks Tom to investigate her mother's death in a small-town hospital, his first instinct is to refuse the case. But as the woman reveals the suspicious circumstances of a simple food poisoning turned deadly, he reluctantly finds himself intrigued. As Tom and his investigator, Joey, delve into the mother's death, an attempt is made on Tom's life, the state bar threatens disbarment, and he finds himself accused of murdering a fellow lawyer. With the help of a beautiful Asian-American psychologist-turned-jury expert, his search for the truth uncovers a conspiracy of jury-rigging beginning at the highest levels of government and backed up by cold-blooded killers. Filled with unexpected reversals and treachery, A Clean Kill will keep even the most jaded mystery reader guessing.