Proof of Intent: A Charley Sloan Courtroom Thriller - Hardcover

Coughlin, William J.; Sorrells, Walter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312280661 ISBN 13: 9780312280666

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2002

Synopsis

Okay, so your client is a liar. Does that make him a murderer?

In the dark hours of morning, Charley Sloan arrives at the palatial home of Miles Dane, celebrated novelist from the Detroit suburb of Pickeral Point, to find Dane's wife murdered in their bed.

Dane tells Charley he was downstairs working. Heard nothing, saw nothing.

The police arrive. Dane tells his story again. Only, this time there's a mysterious intruder fleeing down the hallway, with Dane in pursuit.

Miles Dane became a famous writer because he had a wild and violent imagination. But now that imagination seems to be getting him in trouble. The more he talks to the police, the crazier his story sounds. Is he making things up because that's just what he does? Or is it because he has something to hide?

Once the cops uncover physical evidence linking Dane to the crime, they're sure they know the answer. Dane is charged with murder.

Charley Sloan has his work cut out for him. How do you protect and represent a client who seems to be his own worst enemy?

Miles Dane's wild thoughts continue to dog him as the evidence rolls in. The police soon suspect that he had planned this crime many years ago. And made the mistake of writing it all down. In exact detail.

Was it a plan of action or just another of Miles Dane's strange fantasies? At first Charley can't help but think that Miles killed his wife. But as he begins conducting his own investigation into the case, Charley comes to believe that Miles his client has been framed. And that the real killer is using Dane's own bizarre imagination against him.

But if that's true, why doesn't Dane speak up?

Charley thinks he knows why. Dane has something to hide. Something from his past. Something shameful.

Charley understands shame. A recovering alcoholic with a string of wrecked marriages behind him, he has his own dark past. Charley has long been separated from his daughter Lisa, a law student and recovering alcoholic, who now joins the hard-pressed legal team. Will the case bring father and daughter together or drive them apart?

The trial begins and still it's unclear where Miles Dane's wild imaginings stop and reality begins. Or whether he is committing the ultimate sacrifice in order to atone for something he did long ago.

Only in the crucible of the final, fevered moments of trial will Charley finally put the pieces together. And reveal the stunning truth.

About this title

Review

William Coughlin's series character Charley Sloan gets a second lease on life in this new thriller that carries the small-town Michigan lawyer into murder and mayhem; vintage heroes never die, even if their creators do, and Walter Sorrells, a talented writer whose mysteries plow much of the same ground, carries on Coughlin's series with a nifty setup--a bestselling crime writer fallen on hard times who's accused of murdering his wife in a plot taken from one of his own books. Miles Dane may get away with murder unless Charley can prove he's been set up by the man who may--or may not--be his long-lost son. This is a solid legal thriller that will delight the late Coughlin's fans who've wondered what happened to Charley and what's still happening in picturesque Pickeral Point. Long may the franchise wave! --Jane Adams

About the Author

William J. Coughlin, a former defense attorney and judge in Detroit for twenty years, was the author of sixteen novels. He lived in Grosse Point Woods, Michigan, with his wife, Ruth, an author and book critic.

Walter Sorrells is the Edgar Award-winning author of the legal thrillers Cry For Justice, Will To Murder, and Power Of Attorney. He has served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0312280661
• ISBN 13: 9780312280666
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320