The flinch factor

It has been a few years since readers last met Rachel Gold, the attorney, and she is now balancing single motherhood with the loss of her husband. Her workload includes the Frankenstein Case, a fight that looks almost hopeless. She is defending a working-class St. Louis neighborhood against a developer who wants to level its houses and build a walled residential enclave. Her plan depends on the unpredictable judge assigned to the matter, a man local lawyers call "The Flinch Factor."

Rachel's caseload grows when Susannah, the sister of Nick Moran, a popular local figure, asks her for help. Nick was found dead in the front seat of his pickup on Gay Way, a secluded road, and his many female admirers are badly shaken. Susannah is convinced someone caused his death, and Rachel, who starts out doubtful, looks into it. Her inquiry turns up evidence that Nick did not die by accident.

As Rachel pursues both matters, she has to ask whether the killing and the neighborhood case are connected. The novel follows her as she races to learn what really happened before anyone else is harmed.