Jim Thompson is a young attorney that was recently appointed by the Governor to be a judge for the court of Juvenile Dependency.  Jim’s mentor is found murdered and Jim cannot imagine why. His mentor, Judge Meyer, took him in and nurtured, molded and guided Jim’s career so that when he retired Jim would replace him.  So begins Jim’s journey into solving the murder, saving his career, and trying to come out of the whole situation with some sense of sanity.

At the heart of the story is the legal system responsible for protecting children from abusive, neglectful parents.  The book delves into how the decision is made to remove a child from their parents, their home and family. This is a hard subject to deal with, much less explain how the system works. Trafford does an excellent job of making it clear that for those who work in the system, the answer is never easy, never clear cut, and always full of angst.  It seems that actually protecting and providing for the children rarely happens.

Having said that, there is just enough of the legal system/judgeship aspect in the story to make it that much more interesting for those who are fans of legal thrillers.  This is a thought provoking story that leaves you wishing that the good intentions behind an action were in fact what really mattered and not how it all turns out. Trafford has written a solid crime fiction novel.

This novel is not available until June 19, 2018.