The Southern Lawyer

Joe Hennessy Legal Thriller #1

by Peter O'Mahoney

After more than twenty years away from the law, Joe Hennessy is forced back into the courtroom…

Trying to save his vineyard after years of drought, Hennessy returns to practice in the city he walked away from after the murder of his ten-year-old son—Charleston, South Carolina.

When one of South Carolina’s most powerful men is charged with possessing stolen artwork, Hennessy steps forward to defend him. But as Hennessy digs into the evidence, as he navigates the truth, he finds that the criminal charges are only the start of their problems…

Despite his full workload, Hennessy takes on the defense of a young woman charged with stabbing her ex-boyfriend in a violent rage. As he prepares for the trial, Hennessy discovers there’s more to the case than is presented by the prosecution…

As the cases twist and turn, Hennessy fights to prove that both clients are innocent. But to expose the truth, Hennessy must take one of the most dangerous risks of his life.

Can he ensure that justice triumphs? Or will the cases send him to an early grave?


The Southern Lawyer is the first book in an epic new legal thriller series!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Legal Thriller, Legal, Audiobook, Crime

334 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 28, 2022

Reviews

[Sarah Steen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not "epic" or "thriller". Once again, I disagree with the majority of the reviews, so take for what that's worth, lol. This read like someone who was trying to describe the south who had never been there. Full of stereotypes, vaguely and directly insulting descriptions of the elderly, people of different ethnicities, women, and places. Very little plot, since these were the fastest trials ever held, and the attorney was saved in both trials by the prosecution witnesses during the trials, not by his legal mind or defense strategy. If you want true southern excellence, try Greg Iles or early Grisham on for size.

[Neil Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Peter O’Mahoney has grown into a favorite of mine. He’s capable of writing across multiple genres equally well, which helps to keeps things fresh. The Southern Lawyer is the first instalment in a legal thriller series featuring Joe Hennessy, who is forced to return to lawyering to make ends meet after having walked away for twenty years. Suffice to say that not one, but two compelling cases land in his lap to welcome him back. As always, Mr. Mahoney uses setting to add richness and depth to a story that is filled with unexpected twists and turns right to the end. The characters are well-drawn, the writing is crisp and breezy, and I found myself grateful that there was a second Joe Hennessy novel waiting after I reluctantly turned the final page of The Southern Lawyer.

[Nora Wolfenbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read anything by this author before and did enjoy this book. However, I don't think it reaches the level of a thriller. The characters are well developed and the imagery is wonderful. I like the book well enough to download book two in the series.

[George Stenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joe Hennessey was a prosecutor in Charleston until his son, Luca, was murdered. After his frustration of not finding his son’s murder and grief from the same incident, he moved 2.5 hours away and focused on his vineyard. Twenty years later times have been hard and the vineyard is in debt and Joe is close to losing it. Therefore, he decides to go to Charles Charleston and become a defense lawyer.

He is soon approached by a well-known powerful crime boss that offers Joe a large amount of money to defend him against an art theft charge. Joe reluctantly accepts and soon finds out that there are other powerful people that are actively involved in making sure that the crime boss is convicted.

Joe is also the lawyer for a white girl that is accused of stabbing her Black ex-boyfriend to death. A decent read that leads into the next book in the series.

[John Morse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, the first I’ve read from Peter O’Mahoney, was recommended by KU based on my reading. Billed as a legal thriller, I found the book engaging but lacking the attributes we normally expect in a thriller. I found the protagonist a bit boring and never found the action scenes. Joe Hennessy is motivated by the need for cash to support a vineyard and driven to find the answers to his son’s tragic death years before. Charleston, SC is a town with many secrets and no one you can trust. Hennessy is an ethical attorney who finds his environment troubling with complex relationships that drive the plot forward. There are some very bad lowlifes in the low country. However, it’s more legal procedure than legal thriller.

[John Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know

I started the book and found it pretty dull. Just another lawyer book by a new author. Not so great. I put it down for a few weeks. I finished a couple of other books. I had nothing else to read so I thought I might finish it. I did enjoy the end and so I have mixed emotions about the book and the author. I may read more but then again perhaps not.

[Emily Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

A quick read. Occasionally it felt like a realtor wrote it in an attempt to sell me on Charleston. The characters were flat and uninteresting. The use of religion was sloppily sprinkled in and failed to enrich the plot.

[Shana Schuyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mediocre book

Book did not meet expectations for an "epic legal thriller." It didn't keep me on the edge of my seat. The author put so much effort into trying to create an atmosphere of danger in the beginning, that it was actually funny.
Also, the author throws in some Christian speeches and has one of the characters get baptized.

[Amber Remick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a welcomed change of pace from thrillers and fantasy. Not sure I would have given it 4 stars had I not been needing a break. An easy, no thinking, no cringing, no jumping-at-every-sound read.

[Nomad nimrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new.

[Bonnie Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this one! The southern drawl of the narrator was fun! The book itself was a good lawyer type book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent courtroom drama/mystery/thriller. Characters to root for, elements of danger, atmosphere, southern charm. It's compelling and I enjoyed it from start to finish. It wraps up the court cases and immediate storyline but leaves a big question concerning the protagonist so I will have to read the next. I do look forward to more of these characters! I recommend the audio book as the narration is very well done.

[Dina Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

good mystery

Good story with believable characters and interesting plot. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to those who like legal thrillers.

[Emily Oudman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, I’m having a hard time getting my thoughts together about this book.

I enjoyed the length of each chapter. It seemed that finishing each chapter took about the same time. Which I appreciate because that makes the book easy to pick up, read, and pause as needed (when falling asleep at night for example).

I also enjoyed the genre of legal thriller (a first for me). I felt as though the character development for the main characters was well thought out but lacking for minor characters.

This book seemed to start off a little heavy in the way it established the necessary background information to get the story moving. I enjoyed this book because it felt easy to read, but I wouldn’t say I stayed fully engaged or interested. Hence why I spent a few more days on it than planned. Overall, an enjoyable legal thriller.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars from me

[Ilana Gang · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ Listened to the entire audiobook in 1 day (currently included with audible subscription at the time of this review), so it was fast paced and interesting enough for me to do that! It’s a “legal thriller” which seems pretty niche and not like other thrillers I’ve read. You may like it if you like Law and Order type shows. I think I would try another legal thriller but maybe not continuing in this series, as I didn’t connect with any of the characters enough to care to see it through.

[Katie Novak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joe Hennessy returns to Charleston to pick up his law practice after being out of the game for 20 years. When his son, Luca, was murdered, he gave it up and moved to the vineyard. Now that the vineyard is in trouble, he needs the money from practicing law to make up the payments.

Joe picks up two cases. The first is a murder case where a white girl charged in the murder of her black boyfriend. The second is the case of Henry Cruise, a lifelong criminal, is accused of selling stolen art work for millions of dollars.

It is interesting how working through these 2 cases Joe puts some connections together and when the puzzle pieces come together you won’t believe how it actually went down.

[Augusto Rojas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid piece of Legal Fiction

No frills, a story filled with imaginable characters, in historic city, with some twists and turns that lead us to our climatic ending.

[Brooke Novak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed a diagram of all the different characters. Confusing and not a super shocking ending but for some reason I still kinda want to read the sequel

[Julia Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this new storyline for me!! Got a little too confused at times with so many characters, but flew through this thing. Loved the short chapters and easy read

[Emily Mazingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good. liked a lot

[Amanda Bethea · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I don’t think “legal thrillers” are my thing but it was fun to read a SC book & the last 25% picked up for me

[Megan Rhodes · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[Su9a · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 seems a bit harsh because it wasn’t a bad read. It was just a bit lack lustre I guess. I love a good courtroom drama but this was far from that. Not a bad read, but it was nothing special.

[myreadingescapism · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good courtroom drama but this was just mid. Of course the prosecutions case was soooo lacking that the attorney can pull out the win… eh 🙄

[Vicki Dekker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story line and enjoyed the characters!

[Jonathan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

a good legal thriller

If.you like the courtroom parts of legal thrillers th I is a good one. Good story. Good characters
Quick read

[Tino · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as the genre goes this was very good. I’ll probably be reading some of O’Mahoney’s other stuff as well. 4-4.5 stars.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very compelling. Great courtroom drama

The weather is a subject on its own…as it should be, if you live in the South and have ever experienced humidity!

The ending…wowza!

[Chelsie Meadows · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was chosen as a bookclub pick. I am all about thrillers, but there was nothing thrilling about this one. It took at least 150 pages for it to get somewhat intriguing.

Overall, it was boring and the writing is not great. Kept jumping from scene to scene and no detail that was very much needed.

[Stephen E Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise but poorly written/edited

I did not see the ending coming, and the book kept me turning the pages, but the writing style is unsubtle and stilted, and much of the dialogue… it’s just not how people speak.

There are also problems with time continuity, and basic editing mistakes that are jarring. In one courtroom scene a detective (discussing stolen paintings) refers to “where the drugs were found.” In context, the reference was clearly to the paintings, not drugs. Drugs weren’t even part of the plot.

Also, at one point a witness is described as having 35 years in the (police) force. On the next page, as he’s introducing himself to the jury, he says he’s been “proudly employed by the Charleston Police Department for the past twenty-five years.”