Indefensible

Callow's second legal thriller, the sequel to Damaged, suffers from spoiling references to its predecessor, and a slow plot. When beautiful Elise Vanderzell falls to her death one summer evening from the balcony of her Halifax, Nova Scotia, home soon after an argument with her ex-husband, lawyer Randall Barrett, who wants more access to his children, Randall becomes the prime suspect in what the authorities suspect is a homicide. Randall's troubled 15-year-old son, Nick, wants to kill him, and his 12-year-old daughter, Lucy, who promises to be as attractive as her late mother, is scared of him. The one person who supports Randall is an employee of his prestigious firm, lawyer Kate Lange. Plagued by her own demons, Kate agrees to defend her boss when the police charge him with murder late in the book. Kate redeems herself as a strong heroine, but whiny characters mired in their own misery and extended passages where nothing is happening will lose readers long before the exciting climax. (Jan.)