Supreme Justice by Phillip Margolin

Supreme Justice by Philip Margolin is a sequel to his best seller Executive Privilege.  In his latest thriller a death row case in Oregon is up for consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court and a conspiracy group is willing to kill to keep the case from being heard.

Brad Miller lands a clerkship for US Supreme Court Justice Felicia Moss.  His fiancé, Ginny is also a talented attorney and has moved to DC with Brad to work for a prestigious law firm.  Dennis Masterson is a partner at Ginny’s firm, a former head of the CIA, and college pal to one of the other Supreme Court Justices...abundant political capital.

Meanwhile, Sarah Woodruff is on Death Row in Portland, OR and it is her case that is being considered by the Supreme Court. She was convicted of the murder of her ex-lover who may have been a CIA operative. Information that could clear Sarah of the murder is being withheld by Homeland Security and the CIA.  The Supreme Court is considering whether or not to hear the case when one justice resigns unexpectedly and another is attacked.  Dennis Masterson quickly pulls political strings to fill the court vacancy with his ringer.

Suspicion builds that Masterson and his government cronies may be covering up some improprieties in Oregon.  Justice Moss asks Brad to hire his private investigator friend, Dana Cutler to go to Portland and see if Sara Woodruff’s murder case and the Supreme Court nomination are connected.  Federal authorities cannot be engaged without evidence.  Dana finds that Sarah Woodruff’s dead CIA boyfriend was in the middle of illegal activity and several other unsolved murder cases may be connected to the CIA.  The unraveling of the conspiracy prompts local authorities in Oregon and the FBI to investigate and puts the lives of Brad, Ginny, Dana, and Justice Moss in danger.

Phillip Margolin weaves a good tale…multiple story lines are developed and tied together cleverly in the end.  I thought however, with so many characters it was hard to engage with and relate to many of them.  Since this is a sequel, hopefully the characters were more fully developed in the original.  I’ve read several Phillip Margolin novels in the past…this one is ok but not his best work.  Need proof?  Read Margolin’s Gone, But Not Forgotten.  You won’t regret it.