Blind Judgment

Gideon Page #5

by Grif Stockley

If you want to be a successful lawyer, what you need are cases you can win and clients who can pay their bills. When Latrice Bledsoe shows up in Gideon Page's office, she begs him to take her husband's case - he's been accused of murder - and neither his alibi nor the family checkbook will stand up to close examination. Despite a potential loser of a case and despite the popular wisdom that says you can't go home again, this murder in Bear Creek, Arkansas, the little town where Gideon was born, forces him to ignore all the old rules and take the job. He isn't taking this one for love or money - he's taking it because it offers him the chance to finally get his revenge on the man who years ago destroyed the Page family business and his mother's life. But as Gideon prepares for trial, he discovers that not only is his current case more complicated and treacherous than he imagined, but his past is also different from what he remembered. Faced with two mysteries to solve, Gideon finds his hopes of both victory and revenge beginning to fade even as he begins to fall in love with the girl - now a woman - whom he left behind in Bear Creek almost a lifetime ago.

Genres: Legal Thriller

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 1997

About the author

Stockley is the author of several books, including Race Relations in the Natural State; Daisy Bates: Civil Rights Crusader from Arkansas, winner of the Ragsdale Award from the Arkansas Historical Association and the Arkansiana Award from the Arkansas Library Association and Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919, winner of the Booker Worthen Prize from the Central Arkansas Library System and recipient of a Certificate of Commendation from the American Association for State and Local History. An attorney who has worked with the Center for Arkansas Legal Services, the Disability Rights Center, and the Arkansas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, Stockley completed Ruled by Race while serving as a historian and curriculum specialist at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock.

Reviews

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book in the "Gideon Page" series by Grif Stockley. It is an interesting book. Gideon Page returns to his hometown. He is defending a meat plant worker, accused of slitting his employer's throat.

What really concers Gideon is Paul Johnson, a local bigwig, is accused of hiring the murder. Gideon has a long standing hatred of Paul Johnson and he wants to free his client, but make sure Paul goes down.

Grif Stockley's character of Gideon page is well written. He is certainly not a noble character--but a believable one.
Actually, well-written characters, all of them, are the strong point of Mr. Stockley's writing. You might not LIKE all the characters, but he has a knack for creating interesting one!
One quibble--he spens a lot of time on the investigations in all his books , and the courtroom scenes are relatively short. A bit more courtroom action might be desirable.

Not quite as good as "Probable Cause", which I recently read and reviewed, but still an interesting quick read for fans of legal thrillers and mystery stories.

[Charles Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in and still live in Northeast Arkansas for 76 years. I could relate to so much of what was in the book.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

murder book that is a must read.