A Killer’s Alibi by William L. Myers, Jr. – Review

A Killer’s Alibi by William L. Myers, Jr. – Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A quote from “A Killer’s Alibi”

That’s how Jimmy Nunzio, the Philadelphia crime lord, is caught by the police. Knife in hand, soaked in blood, standing over the corpse of his daughter’s lover who also happened to be his archenemy. Is that why Nunzio killed him? Because he wanted to protect his daughter from his rival? Or did something else happen? Mick McFarland, a brilliant criminal lawyer, usually at ease in the courtroom finds the tables turned when he has to defend Nunzio. Why? Because Nunzio refuses to tell him what happened on that fateful night.

Meanwhile, Mick’s wife, Piper, is striving hard to free Darlene Dowd, a young woman incarcerated for life for her sexually abusive father’s brutal death. However, the jury heard only a part of the truth. Piper is now determined to uncover the entire truth to prove Darlene’s innocence.

As both Mick and Piper dig deeper, they will have to navigate through dark, twisted family secrets. Some people will go to any length to keep these secrets hidden. Will Mick and Piper succeed in defending their respective clients? Read A Killer’s Alibi by William L. Myers, Jr. to find out.

A Killer’s Alibi by William L. Myers, Jr. is a truly addictive legal thriller.

From the start, the author plunged me into his ingeniously crafted fiction. I absolutely did not want to stop reading. Consequently, I finished this book in three days straight. The fast pace of the narrative helped too.

Anchored with perfect words, the characters—the protagonists as well as the supporting ones—effortlessly carried the burden of the plot. I could empathize with Mick’s helplessness. He could only grasp at straws as his client refused to speak. Piper came across as a strong, supportive, and a diligent woman who worked hard to free Darlene.

However, I liked Jimmy Nunzio the best. After such a long time, I have had the pleasure to read an unforgettable villain. The way he ascended the throne of the mob family, his internal conflicts, and their resultant outcomes made it a treat for me to read this book. I loved the portrayal of the mob, their inner dynamics, the crossings, and the double-crossings. All of these were skillfully interwoven with the narrative. There are several other characters here; however, William L. Myers’ expert handling doesn’t result in a hotchpotch of the narrative.

Robert De Niro will be the perfect actor to play Jimmy Nunzio.

Coming to the plot twists, I will admit that I saw the largest one coming a mile away. However, the way the author led me up to it was fantastic. As a result, I was still blown away by the climax. The story flows smoothly and is taut with suspense. Moreover, Myers handles both the mysteries—the murder of Nunzio’s daughter’s lover and the murder of Darlene’s father—with panache making them equally captivating.

The lucid explanation of the legal terms and the proceedings without slowing down the story, or boring the reader, is the strongest quality of this book. Few legal thrillers have achieved this feat, in my opinion. The author’s vividly descriptive writing breathed life into the judicial proceedings and the courtroom scenes. Even though it’s the third book in the Philadelphia Legal series, the author explains every reference to past events. So, it can be read as a standalone.

Hell, yeah!

A Killer’s Alibi by William L. Myers, Jr. is my first 5-star read of 2019, and it totally deserves it. A smoothly flowing story, well-developed characters, and most importantly, a nail-biting, thrilling trial- what more can one require from a legal thriller. I will surely check out the rest of the books in this series.

Get the book on Amazon.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an eARC of this book. I opted to provide an honest review.

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eARC, 426 pages Published February 19th 2019 by Thomas & Mercer