A Florida lawyer has the chance to help a former client on trial for murder in Blair’s (College Football Etiquette, 2015, etc.) legal thriller set in the late 1970s.

Racial tension is a serious problem in Lincoln County, Florida, in 1979. So when cops arrest an African-American man, Lindsey Wilkens, for allegedly murdering a white, affluent car dealer, Arthur Burnside, it seems like a conviction is imminent. Lindsey’s wife, Marie, calls J.T. Lockman, the chief assistant in the Lincoln County public defender’s office. J.T. represented Lindsey years ago when he was accused of selling stolen tools that someone else discarded. The attorney was upset over losing that case and is confident now that Lindsey’s not a killer. Unfortunately, the police have Lindsey’s confession, which they forcibly coerced by using an electric cattle prod. J.T. works to get that confession tossed out and also notices discrepancies in the crime scene photos. There’s a strong Ku Klux Klan presence in the area, and its members are all but certain that Lindsey will receive the death penalty. One of the Klansmen is the cryptically named Nighthawk, whom J.T. and his fellow attorneys come to believe is the actual killer. They just have to match a face and name to the sobriquet—and some evidence, to boot. The author rigorously incorporates issues of race into the plot, which enhance the narrative without overwhelming it. Suspense, too, is in abundance: Nighthawk’s identity, as well as the fiendish Klan Wizard’s, remain unknown until the end. A surprising amount of the story takes place outside the courtroom; J.T. and his team meticulously investigate the case, but Lindsey is disappointingly absent for much of the novel’s latter half. J.T., though, is an engaging protagonist. Although he’s committed to a woman named Deena, the daughter of a wealthy local businessman, his eyes (and hands) perpetually wander to other women; however, his back story provides a convincing reason why he has “some kind of history” with “half the girls from the courthouse.”

A long but energetic tale that’s rife with drama and mystery, both in and out of the courtroom.

In Blair’s debut novel, African-American Freddie Edwards’ life story unfolds across history as a complex tapestry, leading up to his arrest for the killing of a 75-year-old man.

This superbly crafted, intricately detailed story is by turns joyful, sorrowful, frightening and uplifting. Blair draws readers in by establishing a mystery, as Annabelle Mann, the staid, white widow of a respected judge, is called to testify as a character witness for Edwards, a black man with a criminal record who’s accused of murder. The story then exquisitely details the childhoods of Mann, Edwards and his sister, Ruby, in 1930s Tampa, Florida. The post-Depression economy has forced Mann’s family to live on the edge of a black neighborhood; her father is a philandering salesman, largely absent from her life, while her mother is an open, generous woman. In graceful prose, Blair takes time to develop the children’s friendship: Ruby and Annabelle hit it off immediately, but Freddie distrusts the new white girl. Annabelle recognizes his innate intelligence, however, and lures him into friendship by lending him books. Freddie loves stories about knights, hence his self-proclaimed nickname, “the Black Knight,” a moniker he lives up to by always rescuing the mischievous girls. As Blair further develops the characters, as well as the time and place they live in, she toys with the overarching mystery. Chapters vacillate between past and present, and the narrative gradually drops hints about a strange, rich, neighborhood white man. Overall, this fine book offers well-drawn, human characters and logically flowing action, all written in a striking style: “Two silver-haired women walked together on an otherwise empty beach, its pristine white sands stretching endlessly around them, its peaceful quiet broken only by the sounds of waves lapping at the shore and gulls calling overhead.”

A must-read story of relationships, prejudice and bravery, and a vivid paean for justice.