NO DEFENSE

Southern lawyer LuAnn Hagerdorn's crusade to solve an old civil rights case has tragic results for her family and herself when her father--a political pillar of her hometown--is implicated in a racial killing.

If young mother LuAnn Hagerdon Garrett hadn't come home to Tallagumsa, Ala., in April 1978 to attend the dedication of the new courthouse (named in honor of her daddy, Newell Hagerdon, the town mayor), she never would have met Washington Star reporter Ben Gainey. And, as we learn in this generally compelling first novel by a former attorney, if she hadn't told Ben about the racial killings back in 1963, her father never would have been put on trial for murder?and just after announcing his candidacy for governor, no less. On the day of the dedication, Newell surprises LuAnn with the deed to the local steakhouse. Over the protests of her prideful husband, Eddie, LuAnn, pregnant with twins, insists that they move back to Tallagumsa. In time, Eddie takes a job at the local college and LuAnn takes up with Gainey, who has remained in town to write a book about the New South. Then Gainey gets his hands on FBI memos about the murders of two young men slated to be the first black students at an Alabama college, who were purportedly gunned down by then-Sheriff Newell Hagerdon. But because the only witness to the killings was the town drunk, the Bureau had backed off. Now Gainey has revived the case and Newell is on trial. Despite the long buildup, the courtroom scenes, even with Hagerdon family secrets finally revealed, are a disappointment. But LuAnn's belated understanding of her father's selfishly manipulative behavior and her ensuing insights once she finally achieves maturity are cogently explained. In fact, the care Wallace takes with LuAnn's characterization enhances this well-paced legal thriller, as do flavorful Southern voices and a bracing dose of romance.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wallace avoids any Grisham-come-lately cliches in this interesting novel of southern justice. The heroine, LuAnn Hagerdorn, sees her father charged with a 1960s racial murder at the same time she is dealing with a difficult pregnancy and later a broken marriage. This is a novel from an unusual perspective: that of a young mother who worships her father, a powerful southern politician charged with shooting two black youths outside an Alabama town in 1963. Initially, the author concentrates on the tribulations of LuAnn, including an affair with a reporter, before moving into the machinations of the trial, complete with a surprise ending. This page-turner of a novel is refreshing in its uncommon perspective, as opposed to the usual legal novel that focuses on lawyers. Joe Collins

In a powerful first novel set in her home state of Alabama, Wallace deftly combines facts and emotions arising from a civil rights incident with the elements of a mostly dysfunctional family to create a riveting courtroom drama. In 1978, LuAnn Garrett returns to her hometown with husband and family at a time when her politician father is gearing up to run for governor of the state. Soon after the announcement of his candidacy, he is accused of the murder of two black youths who had planned to challenge the admissions policies of the all-white university 15 years earlier. As a former lawyer, Wallace presents a credible version of the drama and family disaster that appears inevitable because of the scandal. Another fine story in the Southern literary tradition; recommended for popular collections.?Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib, Carbondale
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.