This Shamus Award–winning mystery was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and Deadly Pleasures.Leo Maxwell grew up under the care of his older brother, Teddy, a successful yet reviled criminal defense attorney, after their father was jailed for their mother's murder. Now a rookie lawyer, Leo must be there for Teddy after he's shot in the head and falls into a coma.Given that Teddy has enemies on both sides of the law in San Fra...

"Full of revelations, surprises and shocks," the fifth Leo Maxwell mystery pits the underdog defense attorney against an unforgiving prison gang ( Bookreporter).Lachlan Smith's Shamus Award–winning series continues with attorney-detective Leo Maxwell seeking an exit strategy from his family's deepening entanglement with a ruthless prison-based gang. Caught between the criminals and the FBI, Leo charts his own path in defending a young wom...

In this "finely paced mystery," a lawyer and amateur detective thinks he's found the case that will make him—but it just might break him instead ( Publishers Weekly).Now working as a criminal defense attorney in Oakland, Leo Maxwell thinks he's found a new client after a mysterious woman knocks him off his bicycle with her car. She just so happens to have a brother who needs defense on a murder charge. Leo readily agrees and dives right into the investigat...

From an award-winning author, a crime thriller with "some of the sharpest courtroom cut-and-thrust since Presumed Innocent" ( Kirkus Reviews).The Maxwell brothers both became lawyers, following in their father's footsteps. But their father, Lawrence, had his career come to a screeching halt over two decades ago—when he was convicted of killing his wife.Now, faced with evidence of stunning prosecutorial misconduct, a San Francisco judge has...

A San Francisco lawyer confronts a case that strikes tragically close to home in an "outstanding" whodunit by a Shamus Award–winning author ( Publishers Weekly, starred review).Leo Maxwell has left private practice and is working as a public defender in San Francisco. He and his co-counsel, Jordan Walker, are in the midst of trial, brilliantly defending Randall Rodriguez, a mentally ill homeless man whom they contend falsely confessed to the rape of a youn...

Leo Maxwell thinks he’s found a career-making case when a mysterious woman nearly runs him down, then appears at his office to hire him to defend her brother on a murder charge. One problem: Leo hasn’t actually met the client when he sets out to investigate what seems like a hot tip on a burgeoning scandal in the Oakland Police Department. When he presents evidence of deep-set corruption in the Department to the District Attorney’s office, he quickly learns that all is not as it seems, beg...

Everything seems backwards with this case: a lawyer falls victim to a crime, the police seem to be advocating for the wrong side of the law, and young attorney Leo Maxwell is forced to do an investigator’s job in pursuit of the man who tried to kill his brother.Leo had been raised by his older brother, Teddy, a top criminal lawyer both renowned and notorious for his talent and ruthlessness. Though different in character and viewpoint, Leo always tried to emulate Teddy, striving to ...

After working to free his father from prison, Leo has left private practice and is working as a public defender. He and his co-counsel Jordan Walker are in the midst of a trial, defending Randall Rodriguez, a mentally ill homeless man whom they contend falsely confessed to the rape of a young San Francisco socialite. After their client is acquitted, Leo and Jordan fall into an intense relationship—until Jordan is found brutally raped and murdered in her apartment. Leo, the last person know...

In Wolf's Revenge, the fifth novel in Lachlan Smith's Shamus Award-winning series, attorney-detective Leo Maxwell seeks an exit strategy from his family's deepening entanglement with a ruthless prison-based gang. Caught between the criminals and the FBI, Leo charts his own path in defending a young woman who was manipulated into brazenly murdering a member of the Aryan Brotherhood in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. When the consequences strike heartbreakingly close to hom...

In this riveting and emotionally powerful historical drama, an ex-FBI agent plunges into the darkest shadows of 1930s Europe, where everything he loves is on the line. International consultant Prescott Sweet's mission is to bring justice to countries suffering from America's imperialistic interventions. With his outspoken artist wife, Loretta, and their two children, he lives a life of equality and continental elegance amid Europe's glittering capitals-beyond anything he ever dared hope fo...

Detective Lane has a knack for discovering the whereabouts of missing persons. But the city's latest case has disappeared without a trace. After a brutal attack on his young nephew, ex-mayor Bob Swatsky has gone missing with 13 million dollars of taxpayer's money. Is he on the run with the cash, or is it something more sinister? A zany cast of characters, including a love doll and a chain-smoking grandma with an oxygen tank, lead Detective Lane on a thrilling romp through the streets of Ca...

In this "tense" thriller and #1 New York Times bestseller, Detective Harry Bosch teams up with Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller to track down a killer who just might find them first (Wall Street Journal).Detective Harry Bosch has retired from the LAPD, but his half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, needs his help. A woman has been brutally murdered in her bed and all evidence points to Haller's client, a former gang member turned family man. Th...