A Cinderella Affidavit

Extraordinary quantities of detail, both local and legal, distinguish this ambitious, complex legal thriller set in Boston. After a police officer is killed during a drug bust in Boston's Chinatown, attorney Matt Boer discovers that the police acted on ""a phony affidavit signed by a narcotics officer to get a search warrant""--the Cinderella affidavit of the title. When a client of Boer's reveals connections to the Chinatown gunfight, Boer breaks rules to investigate what looks like a police coverup, not only of the affidavit but also of an empty briefcase that made its way from the crime scene to police inventory. Revelations of further deceptions mount. The dead officer's increasingly alcoholic partner progresses from shaky driving to full-blown hallucinations while trying to keep the affidavit secret; he also starts an affair with a woman whose name he often forgets. And Boer's law firm reveals connections to political wranglings at the DA's office, and to the complex and dangerous dealings of Chinese gangs. First-time author Fredrickson is general counsel to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers--that is, he's the lawyer for the folks who check out complaints against lawyers. He packs the narrative with details from case law, and with facts from real cases: the opening chapters ""track the main events of [an actual] murder,"" a preface informs us, and the central affidavit ""is taken almost verbatim"" from that case. Such chunks of nonfiction add texture to the story, though sometimes they are slightly distracting. On the whole, however, Fredrickson's insight into the legal process adds authenticity to a fast-paced. intriguing, multi-faceted tale. 75,000 ad/promo. (May) FYI: Fredrickson was among the authors interviewed in PW's feature on first novelists.