Books by John Carter Stell

Tailor Massimo "Max" Paganini is in trouble. His long-time rival Randall Pepper has been found shot dead in Max's own shop. Only Max's fingerprints are on the gun and there's evidence he arranged a meeting with Pepper. Still, Max insists he's innocent. But who could possibly believe him? Attorney Tracy Brubaker does. She's known Max since she was four years old and agrees to defend him. And she soon finds out there's a lot more to this murder than just a decades-old feud. Several of Max's own employees have secrets to hide. The FBI shows up at her office asking questions but refusing to give answers. The most disturbing element of all, however, is prospective client Charlie Betts, whose true identity puts Tracy in the cross hairs of career criminal Reginald Walters, who's gotten away with murder before. It doesn't help matters that Max isn't the most cooperative of clients, refusing to believe anyone close to him could be involved in Pepper's killing. In spite of everything, however, Tracy presses on, and gets close enough to the truth so that lives are threatened. But neither the FBI, Charlie Betts, nor Reginald Walters have ever dealt with anyone quite like Tracy. Willing to put her life on the line for Max, Tracy plans a dramatic courtroom reveal which not only exposes whodunit, but also how it was done.