And Justice for Mall

Copperman’s fourth “Jersey Girl Legal Mystery” (after Witness for the Persecution) is another outrageous, unconventional mystery. When 11-year-old Riley Schoenberg begs attorney Sandy Moss to get her father, Jack, out of prison, and arrange a new trial, Sandy is unable to say no. As a hardened New Jersey prosecutor, she should have a better sense of a snow job, but maybe she’s gone soft in Los Angeles. Sandy agrees to take the case pro bono, only later learning that Riley inherited 4.5 million dollars when her mother died, and Riley’s father confessed to killing his wife. But Sandy feels protective of her young client. When Riley gets a phone call, supposedly from her dead mother, asking to meet at the mall, Sandy disapproves of the police plan. She drops Riley at the mall, but the police aren’t able to stop a kidnapper with a grenade from taking Riley. Sandy can’t even ask Jack about his daughter: he broke out of prison on the same day Riley was abducted. Sandy runs all over town before making a bold move to save her client.