Cost of Deceit
By H. Mitchell Caldwell
L.A. Sheriff Lieutenant Max Cort is accused of killing his wife, but how do you prosecute a murder trial without a body?
This high-profile courtroom drama has Los Angeles TV stations scrambling for legal commentary. One invites law professor and attorney Jake Clearwater to handle the nightly updates on the hearing. Jake gained fame for defending a convicted murderer, gaining him a retrial, exposing the real killer, and getting his client off and released from prison.
Early in the trial, Jake realizes it’s not going the prosecution’s way. First, he makes a few comments on TV that catch the District Attorney’s attention. Then, with a deadlocked jury, the DA invites Clearwater to talk and asks him to head the retrial team. Jake has some special requirements before accepting, including services that are not usually part of the DA’s office repertoire but are reluctantly granted. With his team, they dig deeper into Lieutenant Cort, questioning and confronting both the suspect’s alibi and the assumed victim’s closest confidants while working with sheriff department investigators to gather more evidence.
As the new trial unfolds, Jake becomes immersed in the muck of Cort’s life—his obsessive ambition and unbridled brutality. With an expensive, high-power attorney, the defense continues to claim the wife ran away. Can Jake overcome the barriers and win a conviction?
Cost of Deceit is the second book in the award-winning Jake Clearwater Legal Thriller series.
Praise for Cost of Deceit
5 STARS
The dramatic dynamic of the trial is comparable to the action that occurs outside the courtroom as one proceeding gives way to another, and tensions rise. A most enjoyable read from start to conclusion. – Philip Zozzaro, Los Angeles Book Review
EDITOR’S PICK
Readers will cheer this polished, highly enjoyable legal thriller. Caldwell gradually raises the tension level until the plot verges on thriller. Fans of courtroom drama will savor this peek into the inner workings of an attorney’s mind while puzzling over the alleged villain’s guilt.—BookLife
H. Mitchell Caldwell’s COST OF DECEIT is a well-structured and easy-to-read legal thriller with believable characters, an engaging story, and insight into the criminal court system. —Indie Reader
Cost of Arrogance
By H. Mitchell Caldwell
Duane Durgeon, a huge, hulking, hardboiled bad-ass, who, against the advice of his counsel (in fact, he threatened to kill one of them), demanded to address the jury during the sentencing phase of his trial. He had been convicted of a double murder. Getting his wish, he insults the judge, his lawyers, the prosecutors, and the jury in a profanity-laced rant that ends with him asking for the death penalty. Naturally, he is sentenced to death.
Jake Clearwater, a law professor, and a former prosecutor is urged by the Death Penalty Project to help stem the tide of wrongful death penalty convictions in California by agreeing to represent Duane in appealing his conviction, despite Duane’s despicable persona and indifference to his fate. Jake convinces the reluctant Duane to appeal and wins a retrial where he is pitted against his former boss and bitter foe, prosecutor John Tice. Not to mention the lovely, mysterious juror that turns Jake’s head. What follows is a riveting tale of courtroom drama, suspense, and the exquisite workings of Law and, ultimately…justice.
Praise for Cost of Arrogance
“As a former prosecutor myself, I appreciated how the book accurately portrays trial proceedings, including a realistic approach to cross-examination and an insightful view of the different ways prosecutors and defense attorneys approach a case and present their evidence.”—Darren Shulman, Ohio Lawyer, Ohio state bar association— www.ohiobar.org
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“Pepperdine/Caruso law professor H. Mitchell Caldwell has written a chilling legal thriller around the retrial of a convicted murderer facing the death penalty. “ —Norm Goldman, Bookpleasures.com
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“A gripping novel about a former top prosecutor turned esteemed law professor who takes on a case to challenge the death sentence for a vicious, confessed, and convicted murderer. The trial details are accurate and dramatic, reflecting the author’s real-life experience as a prosecutor who now teaches law. I lost a night’s sleep—I couldn’t put it down.“ —John Sharer, trial lawyer, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, member of the American Board of Trial Advocates
“H. Mitchell Caldwell makes his debut as a novelist with the first in a promising new series of legal thrillers. A former prosecutor turned law professor, Caldwell sounds like the perfect person to write a legal thriller, and with this novel, he proves to be just that.
His strong and charismatic protagonist Jake Clearwater is the new Perry Mason, and I can’t wait to read the next entry in the series. Highly recommended!“ —Eric Petersen, The Internet Review of Books- Read the review Here→
“Law professor Caldwell knows whereof he writes and it blazes through every page. He does so in this novel with pinpoint legal prose, a razor-sharp wit, and perceptive asides that turn humdrum courtroom battles into edge of the seat drama.” —Ivor Davis, Author of Manson Exposed: A Reporter’s 50-Year Journey into Madness and Murder
About the Author
H. Mitchell Caldwell is a law professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. He teaches criminal procedure and trial advocacy. Professor Caldwell routinely represents death row inmates appealing their convictions before the California Supreme Court.
He has co-authored several trial advocate textbooks as well as the critically acclaimed Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury series of books. COST OF ARROGANCE is the first in his new series of legal thrillers.
He resides in Southern California.
Get In Touch
Media Contact
Kathleen Kaiser
Kathleen@KathleenKaiser.com