DEVIL'S DEFENSE

A rookie small-town lawyer fears a loss when she takes on a popular high school football coach for a client.

Jessica Fischer, 29, is “an inexperienced lawyer just on the brink of competence.” She’s moved to the small town of Ashton, Georgia, where she is the town’s only female lawyer and where “the order of worship was first Jesus, second America, and third the high school football coach, with the second two interchangeable if it were a winning season. It was often a winning season.” The team’s coach, Frank Wishingham III, wants her to defend him after he is served with a lawsuit. The petitioner, Sarah James, claims that Wishingham is the father of her now 16-year-old daughter and wants him to pay past and present child support and cover her health insurance. The coach is a bigot and homophobe (among other things), but he has been advised that having a woman represent him would make for good optics and that Jessica is “a real pistol and would be discrete.” Jessica also tackles the case of Kaitlyn, the pregnant 17-year-old niece of her paralegal, Diane. Kaitlyn’s boyfriend is trying to get into West Point and wants her to get an abortion, which her parents oppose. Meanwhile, the coach is quite adamant about not meeting the daughter in question. Jessica correctly predicts that the two will “have lots of arguments before this ended.” Duff is a humorist and a self-described “recovering lawyer.” Both skills serve her well in this series launch: The likably modest Jessica easily wins the reader’s rooting interest. The portrayal of the coach flirts with stereotype, but he reveals unexpected layers. A love interest, “nice guy” Bobby, a reporter with the local paper, is a little high school cute, but not ickily so. One looks forward to Jessica building her practice and getting to know more about the town and its residents.

Duff scores with a winning protagonist and a captivating courtroom procedural.