WITNESS FOR THE DEAD

Another literate, gripping legal thriller, by the author of the impressive A Cinderella Affidavit (1999).

All Arthur Patch wanted was a loan to tide him over until LaVaccaria, his beloved restaurant, recovered from temporary insolvency. So he borrowed from a customer. Dumb. About a minute and a half after the fact, Arthur wakes up to how really dumb it is, but by then he’s “on the shark” to none other than Larry the Rabbit Coniglio, that paradigmatic Mafioso who happens to have a taste for authentic Sicilian cuisine. Arthur’s troubles have barely begun, since to the US attorney’s office he now represents opportunity. Enter prosecutor Danielle Goutreau, beautiful, brainy, ambitious, and totally committed to the skinning of Larry the Rabbit—with Arthur suddenly her tool of choice. At this point the story shifts sharply to focus on another gangster, Tommy Crimmins, the black-sheep brother of Governor Crimmins and the black-hearted equal of Larry the Rabbit. Irish-American Tommy and Italian-American Larry share a mutual hatred and a bitter rivalry—each hungry for control of Boston’s drug-dealing, prostitution, and extortion operations, plus related centers of other profitable nastiness. Tommy, however, is currently on the run—wanted by the FBI for murder, by Larry for squealing, by Arthur for the fat reward with which he can make that onerous loan history, and by other ill-wishers on an extended enemies list. How Arthur and Danielle team up to track Tommy down, how they discover that their early antipathy was illusory, and how it all culminates in a pitched battle that calls to mind the OK Corral or the fifth act of Hamlet reflects the talent of a consummate storyteller completely at ease with his material.

Fredrickson, a lawyer, knows his courtrooms, sure. But he also knows his people—and makes them interesting, believable, and often very funny.