Accused, by Mark Gimenez

I recently re-read Mark Gimenez's terrific debut novel, The Color of Law, quickly followed by the sequel,  Accused.  I don't know if sequel really is the right word; it's a completely new story with the same main characters in a new setting.  In between these two, he published 3 other great novels, then returns to the characters of The Color of Law.  Clearly his writing continues to improve, in style and substance.

In The Color of Law, one of Scott Finney's many troubles is that his pretty young wife ran off with the golf pro from their country club.  Accused opens with Mrs. Finney waking up with her golf pro boyfriend, now a millionaire PGA star, stabbed to death in their bed.  She calls the best lawyer she knows, Scott, to defend her.

Everything points to her guilt, but Finney refuses to believe that, despite her many faults, she is not a murderer.  He finds plenty of other suspects and plenty of reasons to draw suspicion away from his wife.  In doing so, he peels back layers of pro sports, the community of Galveston, judicial politics, and other realms, showing the dirtier undersides that some would love to keep covered.

As with all of his books, Gimenez conveys a genuine sense of place.  With Accused, he returns to his hometown of Galveston.  After reading this I felt like I could find my way around town and recognize the landmarks.  While he does present many of Galveston's charms, I suspect he made some of his former neighbors a bit uncomfortable with some of his unflattering descriptions.

Gimenez builds the plot well, following Finney's path as he grows the list of suspects, hoping that he can find the one who committed the murder so his daughter won't have to grow up visiting Mom in jail.  There are plenty of twits and turns as suspects come and go.  The final, brilliant twist made me laugh out loud! (But I dare not reveal it here. . . .)  Accused is a great mystery story with a great ending.  Highly recommended!