Leo Maxwell Mystery
5 primary works
Book 1
Leo Maxwell grew up in the shadow of his older brother Teddy, a successful yet reviled criminal defense attorney. As children, their father was jailed for their mother's murder, and Teddy was left to care for Leo, who eventually followed him into the legal profession.
The two are at lunch one day when Teddy is shot in the head--in public, in cold blood. As Teddy lies in a coma, Leo realizes that the search for his brother's shooter falls upon him and him alone, as his brother had enemies not only on the street but in the police department as well. As he begins to examine the life of a brother he barely knew, Leo quickly finds that the list of possible suspects is much larger than he could have imagined.
The deeper Leo digs into Teddy's life, the more questions arise: about Teddy and his ex-wife and about the murder that tore their family apart all those years ago. And somewhere, the person who shot his brother is still on the loose, and there are many who would happily kill Leo to keep it that way.
Book 2
Between Nikki's star client, one of Oakland's most feared gang leaders, and certain elements within the Oakland police, Leo realizes that he has unwittingly made himself enemy number one within the criminal community as well as the police department. Both sides want him silenced before he uncovers the full extent of a scandal that is poised to engulf the city and ignite a firestorm of repercussions. Hounded by threats from all sides, Leo soon finds himself framed for murder and sent to prison with a price on his head.
Even if Leo can survive, he's a marked man unless he can bring those responsible for the murders to justice. Bodies pile up as Leo closes in on his pursuers while at the same time, his pursuers close on him. Yet the truth is far more sinister, as Leo must confront the one person he never would have suspected...
Book 3
Working the streets while Nina handles the action in the courtroom, Leo must confront the darkness at the center of his life as he follows a trail of corruption and danger that leads to the very steps of City Hall.
Book 4
Now a public defender in San Francisco, Leo has partnered with Jordan Walker, a promising young lawyer on loan from a well-heeled law firm. Together they are in the midst of a trial, defending Randall Rodriguez, a mentally ill homeless man who they contend falsely confessed to the rape of a San Francisco socialite. After their client is acquitted, Leo and Jordan fall into an intense relationshipuntil Jordan is found brutally raped and murdered in her apartment. Leo, the last person known to have seen her alive, is the natural suspect. But the story takes a shocking turn when Rodriguez walks into the police station and offers to confess to Jordan’s murder. Tasked by Jordan’s grieving father with looking further into her death, Leo soon finds himself on the trail of an adversary far more powerful than any foe he has met thus far.
Book 5
In Wolf's Revenge, the fifth novel in Lachlan Smith's critically acclaimed series, attorney-detective Leo Maxwell seeks an exit strategy from his family's deepening entanglement with a ruthless prison-based gang. Caught between the sadistic criminal Bo Wilder and the FBI, Leo charts his own path in defending a young woman who was manipulated into murdering an Aryan Brotherhood member in broad daylight. When the consequences of the case strike heartbreakingly close to home, long-held secrets are revealed, transforming Leo's perspective on the aftermath of the tragedy that derailed his childhood and fractured his family over two decades ago. Leo comes to realize that there's no such thing as fair play in the battle against a prison gang that's already being punished to the full extent of the law. The question then becomes who will get revenge first--the Maxwells or the gang leader who pursues them?