The Advocate

Criminal defence attorney Darcy Cole is facing one of the biggest cases of his distinguished career but at the same time he must deal with his own mid-life crisis. He has just won an acquittal for his client-beautiful, self-centred Lynne Tobias-from the charge of murdering her husband, a prominent Chicago attorney. Now Cole and Tobias are facing federal charges of conspiracy to defraud an insurance company in connection with the death of her husband. This new charge has been brought by Owen Dempsey, a U.S. Attorney, who is running for governor, as he knows that prosecuting Tobias will provide him with massive, and free, election-year publicity. Cole, however, is exhausted, worn out. A brilliant criminal defence attorney, he has made his career the central focus of his life. While he appears to be a successful man, he has had no personal life since his wife divorced him years earlier. By day, however, Cole is energetic and intimidating. He outmanoeuvres his opponents and plots brilliant strategies to defend his client from the government’s charges, anticipating the dirty tactics of Dempsey’s office and devising a few of his own. Filled with brilliant legal manoeuvring and surprise after surprise, The Advocate spins a complicated, frightening, often humourous path through a spectacular federal trial, ruthless organised crime activity, a verdict that is totally unexpected and a conclusion that will leave even the most avid mystery readers wondering why they didn’t see it coming.