The Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

For some reason I really enjoy a good legal novel in the cold month of January. So, with this in mind, I resurrected my copy of the 2015 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction - the winner as well as the finalists - to help me in my selection. The prize, which is cosponsored by the ABA Journal and the University of Alabama School of Law and authorized by Harper Lee, has been awarded each year since To Kill a Mockingbird's 50th anniversary to the novel that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change.

The finalists:
My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni (received 20.64% votes)
From the publisher: "Tracy Crosswhite has spent 20 years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah's disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn't believe that Edmund House - a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah's murder - is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers. When Sarah's remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she's been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past - and open the door to deadly danger."

Terminal City by Linda Fairstein (received 37.47% votes)
From the publisher: "From the world's largest Tiffany clock decorating the 42nd Street entrance to its spectacular main concourse, Grand Central has been a symbol of beauty and innovation in New York City for more than 100 years. But "the world's loveliest station" is hiding more than just an underground train system. When the body of a young woman is found in the tower suite of the Waldorf Astoria - one of the most prestigious hotels in Manhattan - assistant DA Alex Cooper and detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace find themselves hunting for an elusive killer whose only signature is carving a carefully drawn symbol into his victims' bodies, a symbol that bears a striking resemblance to train tracks."

And the finalist and winner -
The Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson (received 41.89% votes)
This is the story of Regina Robichard, an African-American attorney working for the Legal Defense Fund with Thurgood Marshall in the 1940s. She receives a packet detailing the disappearance and death of Joe Howard Wilson, a young black World War II veteran, and she travels to Mississippi to investigate. When she arrives, she discovers that nothing about the case, the town or its inhabitants is quite what it initially seemed.

Take a read of one or all and see if your legal mind agrees!