Natural Law — D.R. Schanker

The sequel to Edgar-nominated A Criminal Appeal marks the return of Nora Lumsey: self-described big-boned deputy public defender with a passion for justice, a weakness for the wrong men, and a talent for putting herself in the line of fire. This time, Nora investigates the grotesque murder of her ex-lover - a womanizing, cocaine-addicted law professor who espouses Darwinism. Natural Law also introduces Luther Cox, a rural police detective who consults the I-Ching and paints landscapes, and who must confront evidence of his role in a police cover-up involving a crime committed by one of the local university's star basketball players. As the plot unfolds, Nora and Luther find themselves both allied and at odds as they ferret out a sordid conspiracy implicating a civic-minded pimp who plays violin in the local symphony, twin teenage trailer-park prostitutes named Stormi and Sunni Skye, and a university basketball coach with a genius for manipulation and a taste for the wild side. A brilliantly detailed portrait of a stratified community in which drugs, sex, basketball, and murder accord social equality, Natural Law is at once a philosophical mystery and page-turning thriller that will leave readers enthralled with the breadth of its vision and the depth of its emotional resonance.