Flat Lake in Winter Book

New York defense attorney Matthew Fielder has quixotically left a law practice and urban living to build himself a cabin in the Adirondack woods and get by on a legal aid pension and whatever small lawyer-work comes his way. But because in that sparsely populated area of New York State Fielder is the only criminal defense attorney qualified enough to take on a death penalty case, he is almost forcibly enlisted to do just that. He has been through "Death School," the course given by the State to acquaint defense lawyers with the intricacies of the newly reinstated death penalty law and with the additional resources the law provides the defense in such cases. Reluctantly, Fielder agrees. His client, he finds, is Jonathan Hamilton, variously regarded in the small rural community as "nearly retarded" or, more charitably, "slow." The young man has called the authorities one frosty morning to say his wealthy grandparents, with whom he lives, have been "hurt real bad." In truth, the police find, the couple has been brutally and bloodily slashed to death. Jonathan doesn't remember what happened; his guilt seems obvious to everyone, including his attorney. Fielder's job is to save the boy's life. And slowly, he begins to feel the remembered excitement of the fight to win a case; even more, he is warmed by a growing emotional involvement with the simple young man who can be made happy with Fielder's gift of a blanket to wrap himself in against the prison cold. (Jonathan's first question to his attorney when they meet is "Are they going to kill me tonight?") Fielder gathers all the support staff the law allows him, an odd but loyal and effective group. Gradually they start to notice some small but possibly important discrepancies in the case against their client, and to uncover some possibly relevant secrets hidden in the past of Jonathan's wealthy family. Eventually, Fielder comes to believe that Jonathan may not, after all, have killed his grandparents. And if he didn't who did? Joseph Klempner has been honing the extraordinary talent that has been apparent from his first book, Felony Murder, and the deftness with which he uses his wide background in law and law enforcement to tell a story that will grip the reader until the very last sentence. With the resurgence of the death penalty in the news, Flat Lake in Winter puts the conflicts of legal killing in human terms from an author who is at the very top of his form. Read More