Chasing Justice

A Matt Royal Mystery

By: H. Terrell Griffin

Narrated by: Steven Roy Grimsley

Matt Royal is going back to the courtroom. He has agreed to defend his good friend and wife of Longboat Key's police chief. Abby Lester has been charged with the murder of Nate Bannister, an unlikeable, shady character. He was found shot to death in his downtown Sarasota condo, and the evidence points to Abby as the killer.

Matt cannot refuse Abby's pleas for help, despite having retired from the practice of law several years earlier. Now he must face a hotshot prosecuting attorney with a record of 22 wins and zero losses in murder trials. As Matt begins to investigate, he finds that nothing is what it seems. Police, politicians, academics, real estate moguls, and other powerful forces are tied together in a cauldron of issues that Matt must untangle to get at the truth. Can he rekindle his legal skills and outwit the prosecution pitted against him? Matt knows he must, as the life of his friend hangs in the balance.

©2015 H. Terrell Griffin (P)2016 Oceanview Publishing

My first Matt Royal legal thriller...

...but it will not be my last! This legal mystery was a very pleasant surprise. Retired trial lawyer (and current beach bum) Matt Royal decides to return to the courtroom to defend a friend, who happens to be the wife of the police chief. She is accused of murder.

Chasing Justice is a complex, sophisticated ,serious, and fun courtroom drama set on Florida's southern gulf coast. The wisecracking Royal's love interest is the small town's police detective. She plays a major role in the case.

The narrator is new to me, but he is darned good.

Highly recommended especially to those who enjoy excellent legal thrillers. This novel is as good as Grisham's best and better than his more recent releases.

Narrator is excellent!

I love legal thrillers. This is my first book from this author and there are some pros and cons.

Complex storylines make the book interesting but the flow is disrupted by the pieces miraculously falling together. This beach bum, mushy, gushing with love lawyer is easy to like as is his girlfriend/detective. Their perfect relationship is a cute backdrop but a couple of times a bit too cute.

There is a lot of detail about the location and I found that enjoyable.

The author REALLY explains every detail in the courtroom interaction which felt like a bit more than I needed and made the book longer than necessary (although I LOVE long audiobooks).

Continuity in the recording was bumpy a few times (double recording of specific lines) but the narrator really makes the story. Excellent voice acting and all of the characters are believable.

There was really only one exchange that felt so over the top in the dialogue that it stands out as almost syrupy. J.D. provides a blow by blow description of Matt's life and questions how he was able to overcome and become so amazing! I thought I would have to SWOON!

All in all it is a good listen and the narrator truly makes this book a joy to listen to.

I'll listen to more of the series.