Amazon.com Review The best thing about Grif Stockley's mysteries featuring Gideon Page, an Arkansas social worker turned lawyer, is their no-nonsense attitude toward the business of being a lawyer. There are few big deals, no car chases, and a minimum of courtroom theatrics--just ordinary people trying to survive life's nasty menu. Blind Judgement has Page commuting from Little Rock to his hometown of Bear Creek in the Arkansas Delta to defend an African American accused of killing his Chinese American employer, presumably on the orders of a wealthy white man named Paul Taylor. Page has reason to hope the worst for Taylor: they had been boyhood friends until the Taylor family cheated Page's mother out of her property. But nothing turns out as expected, which adds to the pleasure and believability. Other Page-turners available in paperback: Expert Testimony, Illegal Motion, Probable Cause, and Religous Conviction. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Kirkus Reviews It's old-home week for Gideon Page when Latrice Bledsoe asks him to come back to Bear Creek, Arkansas, to defend her meatpacker husband Doss on a charge of taking money from Paul Taylor to kill Willie Ting, the boss at Southern Pride Meats. Page is happy to take the case because if he can get Doss to testify against Paul Taylor, he'll be nailing the man who cheated his mother after his father killed himself. Apart from a couple of ambiguous conversations, though, there's no evidence against Taylor, and plenty (bloody knife, heavily alibi-ed coworkers) against Doss. Anybody but Page (Illegal Motion, 1995, etc.) would see other trouble signs, too: Doss refuses to take a lie-detector test; the supposedly despised Taylor has a surprising amount of popular support in Bear Creek; and Taylor's lawyer seems utterly unconcerned about the trial. (He probably knows the novel will have run most of its course by the time he'll need to show up in court.) But Page, awash in youthful memories and content to neglect his long-suffering girlfriend Amy Gilchrist for the dubious embraces of high-school sweetheart Angela Marr--the man seems to take up with each woman only to abandon her for the next--just can't keep his eye on the ball; it'll be a miracle, and no thanks to his dazzled lawyer, if Doss walks. A thimble-sized mystery interleaved with so many reminiscences of the hero's adolescence you'll feel as if you're paging through somebody else's high-school yearbook. Despite some incisive asides on racism, sensitive Page's fifth case is his weakest

Product Description"GRIPPING . . . [Stockley] writes with wit, irony, and a good lawyer's intimate understanding of the daily life of the defense bar and the dynamics of trial. Illegal Motion reads like a thriller and reverberates like the news." *Entertainment WeeklyWhen small-time lawyer Gideon Page agrees to defend Dade Cunningham against charges of rape, he doesn't realize what he's taken on. Dade, a star wide receiver for the University of Arkansas, is poor and black; his accuser, a pretty co-ed, is wealthy and white. And Gideon is suddenly at the center of a racially and sexually charged case that will earn him enemies on campus and off.Before he even gets to trial, he'll be dodging the media and the wrath of feminists, contending with naked bigotry and university politics, dealing with the divided loyalties of his daughter, Sarah, and facing long hidden secrets from the past that will put the truth and his own conscience on trial. . . ."[The] richness of place and character gives punch to the climactic courtroom scene . . . Illegal Motion will give courtroom drama fans a pleasantly tense few hours." *San Jose Mercury News"STOCKLEY KNOWS HIS STUFF." *Detroit Free PressFrom the Inside Flap"GRIPPING . . . [Stockley] writes with wit, irony, and a good lawyer's intimate understanding of the daily life of the defense bar and the dynamics of trial. Illegal Motion reads like a thriller and reverberates like the news." *Entertainment Weekly When small-time lawyer Gideon Page agrees to defend Dade Cunningham against charges of rape, he doesn't realize what he's taken on. Dade, a star wide receiver for the University of Arkansas, is poor and black; his accuser, a pretty co-ed, is wealthy and white. And Gideon is suddenly at the center of a racially and sexually charged case that will earn him enemies on campus and off. Before he even gets to trial, he'll be dodging the media and the wrath of feminists, contending with naked bigotry and university politics, dealing with the divided loyalties of his daughter, Sarah, and facing long hidden secrets from the past that will put the truth and his own conscience on trial. . . . "[The] richness of place and character gives punch to the climactic courtroom scene . . . Illegal Motion will give courtroom drama fans a pleasantly tense few hours." *San Jose Mercury News "STOCKLEY KNOWS HIS STUFF." *Detroit Free Press

Review"Grif Stockley Delivers Another Gripping Thriller that is rich with humor, local color (accentuated now that our president comes from that state), vivid characterization and intrigue." -- Mostly Murder "Very Difficult To Put Down... Told with a keen sense of humor, the book is both a cleverly crafted detective yarn and a touching nontraditional love story." -- Business First "Involving...The ethical and religious dilemmas are well handled." -- Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine -- ReviewProduct DescriptionFrom the author of Probable Cause and Expert Testimony comes a new spine-tingling legal thriller. Arkansas attorney Gideon Page takes on a murder trial that involves the hot issue of religious fundamentalism. HC: Simon & Schuster.

From Publishers WeeklyThis lucid and moving sequel to Expert Testimony explores racial tension and litigation in an Arkansas town. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalArkansas lawyer Gideon Page returns ( Expert Testimony , Summit Bks., dist. by S. & S., 1991) as defender of a likable and sophisticated black psychologist accused of murdering his white lover's retarded child during electroshock therapy. Interracial love, child abuse, and family secrets add volatility to the case and send Page scurrying for mitigating evidence; meanwhile, he worries about solo practice, true love, and middle age. Courtroom tactics, case details, and legal explanations flesh out this steadily involving drama for legal eagles.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.