WITNESS FOR THE PERSECUTION

Solving a murder is the ultimate distraction for a Jersey girl gone West.

Prosecutor Sandy Moss hardly expected to start a career as a defense attorney when she crossed the country to join a Los Angeles–based firm specializing in family law. But as her boss, Holly Wentworth, reminds her, Seaton, Taylor created a criminal division just for her after she successfully defended two murder trials. So when film director Robert Reeves is accused of sabotaging the equipment that sent stuntman Jim Drake to his death, his demand to have Sandy defend him seems almost reasonable. What makes Sandy most inclined to take on the uncooperative Reeves, however, is that her first client, actor Patrick McNabb, now her boyfriend, has just made an offer she’d prefer to refuse. Her charming but impulsive beau wants her to move into his magnificent home. Sandy’s seen all too often that once Patrick wins the object of his pursuit, he tends to lose interest. So preparing a defense for the stubborn Reeves, who won’t come clean about any of the facts of the case, within the nine-week timeline Judge Franklin has allowed provides Sandy with the excuse she needs to put off a decision about McNabb’s proposal. As the evidence against Reeves mounts, Sandy draws on all her Garden State grit to clear a defendant who practically defies her best attempts to defend him while putting on pause the man who wants to woo her.

Crafty and zany, with a well-clued solution.