Proof

Suits producer Cowan debuts with a terrifically tense legal thriller. Forty-something L.A. attorney Jake West has hit rock bottom: he’s an alcoholic; he’s estranged from his wife, Cara; and he’s just been censured at work for an ethical breach. After West gets into the passenger seat of his friend and colleague Rich Kaplan’s car one afternoon, someone knocks on the window and shoots Kaplan in the head. The killer leaves their .44 Magnum at the scene, and West picks it up just as the cops arrive. Those circumstances alone make West a suspect; when it comes out that Kaplan and Cara had been sleeping together, the optics worsen. Hoping to clear his name and avoid arrest, West digs into the last case Kaplan was handling. Despite having no experience in criminal law, he’d been defending Tiana Walker, who was accused of setting a fire that killed two of her three children. West decides to take over the case, and soon discovers that Kaplan’s bizarre handling of it raises more questions than answers. Cowan manages to make his deadbeat lead easy to root for, and pairs nuanced characterizations with a deliciously serpentine plot. Readers will hope this is the start of a long-running series. Agents: Emma Kapson and Liz Parker, Verve Literary. (June)