Synopses & Reviews
Private investigator Dana Cutler must take down a cunning psychopath before he can pull off the perfect crime, in Sleight of Hand, a novel of suspense from Phillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of Capitol Murder and Supreme Justice.
Charles Benedict - charismatic criminal defense lawyer, amateur illusionist, and professional hit man - has performed his greatest sleight of hand yet: framing a millionaire for the murder of his much younger wife.
When Horace Blair married Carrie, the prosecutor in his DUI trial, he made her sign a prenuptial agreement guaranteeing her twenty million dollars if she remained faithful for the first ten years of marriage. Just one week before their tenth anniversary, Carrie disappears, and Horace is charged with her murder. Desperate to clear his name, the millionaire hires D.C.s most ruthless defense lawyer - Charles Benedict.
P.I. Dana Cutler is in the Pacific Northwest on the trail of a stolen relic dating from the Ottoman Empire. Hitting a dead end sends her back to Virginia perplexed and disappointed - and straight into the case of Horace and Carrie Blair.
Now Dana must conjure a few tricks of her own to expose Benedicts plot, before he can work his deadly magic on her...
Review
“Phillip Margolins best book in years. Deception is prominent, and the villain is truly vile.…A magician never reveals his secrets, and like the best prestidigitators, Margolin manipulates readers into believing one thing, then reveals the surprising truth..” Associated Press
Synopsis
Charles Benedict—criminal defense lawyer, amateur illusionist, and professional hit man—and private investigator Dana Cutler are on a collision course set in motion by Benedict's greatest sleight of hand yet: framing a millionaire for the murder of his wife.Ten years ago, Horace Blair persuaded Carrie, the prosecutor during his DUI trial, to marry him and sign a prenuptial agreement guaranteeing her twenty million dollars if she remained faithful during the first decade of their marriage. Just before their tenth anniversary, Carrie disappears, and Horace is charged with her murder. He hires Charles Benedict—one of D.C.'s most brilliant and ruthless defense attorneys.
Hitting a dead end on the case she was working on in the Pacific Northwest, private investigator Dana Cutler returns to Virginia and straight into the Carrie Blair murder investigation. It's the perfect crime, unless Dana can conjure a few tricks of her own to take down a cunning psychopath and expose his diabolical plot—before he can work his deadly magic on her.
About the Author
Phillip Margolin has written eighteen novels, many of them New York Times bestsellers, including the recent Worthy Brown's Daughter, Sleight of Hand, and the Washington Trilogy. Each displays a unique, compelling insider's view of criminal behavior, which comes from his long background as a criminal defense attorney who has handled thirty murder cases. Winner of the Distinguished Northwest Writer Award, he lives in Portland, Oregon.