From Booklist
Massachusetts lawyer Jimmy Morrisey has no business taking on work that won't pay, considering his solo practice is at a crawl and his wife is battling cancer. But when two FBI agents darken his door, the news they deliver piques his curiosity--and for good reason. Having just arrested the serial murderer known as Van Gogh (named for his habit of lopping off the victim's right ear), the feds uncovered in the perp's residence a photo of a woman with Jimmy's home and work address on the back. Jimmy doesn't know William Wolff (aka Van Gogh), nor does he know the woman in the photo. The agents seem content to let this loose end dangle, but Jimmy wants answers. His meddling uncovers disturbing facts that make him the target of another killer. Jimmy makes a fine hero in the modern, low-key style--flawed, funny, and likable. This is Fredrickson's third thriller, all with different attorney protagonists. Let's hope Jimmy breaks the pattern and comes back again. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Michael Fredrickson is one of my favorite authors and A Defense for the Dead is his bestwork yet. Michael Fredrickson writes with intelligence and wit that few thriller writers can match . . . a great read. Fredrickson is at the top and rising." --Michael Palmer, New York Times bestselling author of Fatal
"The real deal . . . the writing is compelling and authentic, right down to the delicious details of life's gritty side in Boston and Prvincetown."--Dick Lehr, New York Times bestselling co-author of Black Mass
Praise for Michael Fredrickson's Witness for the Dead:
"Another literate, gripping legal thriller, by the author of the impressive A Cinderella Affidavit . . . how it all culminates in a pitched battle that calls to mind the OK Corrall or the Fifth Act of Hamlet reflects the talent of a consumate storyteller completely at ease withhis material."--Kirkus Starred Review
"This based on a true story thriller packs a powerful punch."--Booklist
Praise for Michael Fredrickson's A Cinderella Affidavit:
"Powerful, intelligent, and a great pleasure to read."-Robert B. Parker
"Michael Fredrickson is a lawyer's lawyer up in Boston. With the publication of his first novel he becomes a reader's writer. Fredrickson has looked deep into his fictional characters and produced a story so real and so well told that it will pull you right into A Cinderella Affidavit. What an enjoyable read!"-Noah Gordon, author of The Last Jew
"The real deal . . . the writing is compelling and authentic, right down to the delicious details of life's gritty side in Boston and Prvincetown."--Dick Lehr, New York Times bestselling co-author of Black Mass
Praise for Michael Fredrickson's Witness for the Dead:
"Another literate, gripping legal thriller, by the author of the impressive A Cinderella Affidavit . . . how it all culminates in a pitched battle that calls to mind the OK Corrall or the Fifth Act of Hamlet reflects the talent of a consumate storyteller completely at ease withhis material."--Kirkus Starred Review
"This based on a true story thriller packs a powerful punch."--Booklist
Praise for Michael Fredrickson's A Cinderella Affidavit:
"Powerful, intelligent, and a great pleasure to read."-Robert B. Parker
"Michael Fredrickson is a lawyer's lawyer up in Boston. With the publication of his first novel he becomes a reader's writer. Fredrickson has looked deep into his fictional characters and produced a story so real and so well told that it will pull you right into A Cinderella Affidavit. What an enjoyable read!"-Noah Gordon, author of The Last Jew
Book Description
The murderer is known as Van Gogh. Leaving a bloody trail of bodies up and down the east coast, every one of the serial killer's targets receives his gruesome signature: the removal of the victim's right ear. After ten such bodies, the FBI tracks him down and takes him out, putting an end to an horrific mystery. For Boston attorney Jimmy Morrissey, however, Van Gogh's death is only the beginning.
Jimmy Morrissey has problems of his own. His wife has cancer, his practice is floundering, and his receptionist is trying to use him as his own personal bodyguard. Things only get worse when two FBI agents let him in on a chilling piece of evidence found in Van Gogh's apartment: abeautiful woman's headshot, with Morrisey's name and address on the back.
It isn't tool long before Morrissey realizes that he's been sent a message from beyond thegrave. The tightly wrapped Van Gogh case begins to unravel with every new detail Jimmy uncovers, which could mean that a murderer is still at large. But finding out the truth means taking on a client that technically doesn't exist, living Jimmy Morrissey as Defense for the Dead.
Jimmy Morrissey has problems of his own. His wife has cancer, his practice is floundering, and his receptionist is trying to use him as his own personal bodyguard. Things only get worse when two FBI agents let him in on a chilling piece of evidence found in Van Gogh's apartment: abeautiful woman's headshot, with Morrisey's name and address on the back.
It isn't tool long before Morrissey realizes that he's been sent a message from beyond thegrave. The tightly wrapped Van Gogh case begins to unravel with every new detail Jimmy uncovers, which could mean that a murderer is still at large. But finding out the truth means taking on a client that technically doesn't exist, living Jimmy Morrissey as Defense for the Dead.
About the Author
Michael Fredrickson was born in rural Minnesota. He received his B.A. from Macalester College, studied English literature at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and at the University of Toronto. He worked as a college professor, a hippy farmer, an auto mechanic, a lumberjack, a bar musician, and a singing telegrapher before obtaining his law degree from Harvard Law School.
Fredrickson spent five years working in a large Boston law firm before becoming general counsel to the state agency that polices lawyers in Massachusetts. He has also taught legal ethics and other subjects at Boston law schools. His fascination with the ethical dilemmas lawyers face is evident his crime novels, particularly A Cinderella Affidavit (1999) and A Defense for the Dead (2004). His second novel, A Witness for the Dead (2001), was a Boston Globe bestseller and the biggest seller of the year at Spencer's Mystery Bookshop in Boston.
Fredrickson lives with his wife and son in the Boston area. He summers on Cape Cod and still returns regularly to visit friends and family in Minnesota. He has participated both as a teacher and as a student in the Demos Writers' Workshop.
Fredrickson spent five years working in a large Boston law firm before becoming general counsel to the state agency that polices lawyers in Massachusetts. He has also taught legal ethics and other subjects at Boston law schools. His fascination with the ethical dilemmas lawyers face is evident his crime novels, particularly A Cinderella Affidavit (1999) and A Defense for the Dead (2004). His second novel, A Witness for the Dead (2001), was a Boston Globe bestseller and the biggest seller of the year at Spencer's Mystery Bookshop in Boston.
Fredrickson lives with his wife and son in the Boston area. He summers on Cape Cod and still returns regularly to visit friends and family in Minnesota. He has participated both as a teacher and as a student in the Demos Writers' Workshop.
