ONE DEAD JUDGE

Dallas Henry (Beach Money, 1991), now an Ocean City motel- owner, returns to lawyering when crusty old Judge Crenshaw hands him a package to be opened on the judge's death—and then becomes a hit-and-run victim. Informed that the judge left him $50,000 in his will, Dallas becomes suspect #1—until, with the help of brainy, gorgeous Susan, Dallas unearths a few more suspects: Mack Trial, whom the judge was suing for judicial malpractice; Pete Marjani, who offered the judge five percent in his golf-club project, then reneged; Gunderson, an ex-law partner whom he took for every cent he had; and Pamela, his part-time secretary/inamorata, who fiddled the state for over $40,000 in delinquent child-support payments. Also on hand: an escaped con, three kids on the run from abusive parents, and enough six-packs to float the Titanic. One more will die before Dallas can get back to what he likes best—surfing, sunning, and lusting after Susan. Amusing fare, with some of the best laughs coming at the expense of the legal profession, for fans of the medium-boiled detective story.