The Last Innocent Man

Margolin's second novel, originally published in 1981, finds defense attorney David Nash having qualms about his profession. He's helped free a famous novelist, Thomas Gault, whom he later suspects may actually have beaten his wife to death. And he's discovered that his new client, whom he'd believed innocent of killing a policewoman, lied to him about his alibi. Margolin's smooth prose and Christopher Lane's versatile narration easily shake loose whatever dust may have settled on the book. Lane's voice suggests education and class; it's a natural fit for a successful attorney like Nash. But with only a slight supercilious edge, it's just as appropriate for the sardonic novelist Gault. Lane toughens up for a private eye in Nash's employ and even finds the precise flat, slurred vocal for a stoned teenage girl who's a witness for the prosecution. A Harper hardcover. (Dec.)