The SCOTUS Affair was both a love story about a secret love, and a conspiracy novel. The secret love story was about the relationship between Ben Johnson and Acadia LaFleur. Ben was 70 years old and was a partner in an impressive law firm which made him one of the most successful and powerful black men in the U.S. Acadia was the wife of Alphonse LaFleur. She was the remarkable Southern white wife in a loveless marriage, and she had been in love with Ben for 40 years. Her husband was part of a multigeneration of politicians who successfully controlled and financially benefitted from the political power. One of the other important figures was Dimase Augustin, a professional detective and trouble shooter who worked for Ben Johnson. 

This book is the first in what may become a series of thrillers about Mr. Augustin.

 

Unlike most conspiracies, this one was not driven by ideology. The loose network of people involved were of various political leanings. The group wanted to maintain their own power and control, and therefore the purse strings of government. The group thought that kickbacks from various rebuilding and military contracts would provide them with billions of dollars.

 

But Alphonse had his sights on controlling more than his corner of Louisiana. He was in league with a corrupt senator, Richard “Dickie” Monroe, and it was there design to control a powerful shadow U.S. government, and then eventually to win the presidency. While they already were a part of the political party that had majorities in the House and Senate, they had a plan to control the Supreme Court as well. Operation SCOTUS was intended to do that death. With the natural death of Supreme Court Justice Charles Thompkins at the age of 86, they knew they could fill that spot and one more with judges they could control. Operation SCOTUS was aimed at removing the youngest Justice and replacing him with one of their own.

 

Meanwhile, Dickie kept a room at the Watergate where he entertained his ladies of the night, and it was one such woman, who used the title of Daisy May, happened to see a text on Dickie’s phone about their plans for the Supreme Court. She was also from Louisiana and had the same name as Acadia La Fleur. The author explained that it was a common Cajun name. When the order went out for the murder of Daisy May, her real name was not known to the men in Washington so it was Ben Johnson’s love that was attacked with a baseball bat and left to die.

 

Normally, I would not be drawn to a conspiracy story, but this one was different enough. The characters were interesting and believable. The plot, which was not overly complex, developed nicely. I was eager to see how the author was going to bring this story to a conclusion. It’s a good story – have a look.