A Shattered Circle

Book excerpt: A judge’s wife struggles under the deadly weight of secrets both past and present in “Egan’s excellent third legal thriller . . . his best to date” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Ever since a fall from a stepladder, Judge Lonergan hasn’t been the same. The accident triggered traumatic dementia—a condition that his wife and secretary, Barbara, is desperate to keep hidden from the public. With the help of the judge’s law clerk, she seems to be succeeding—until a judicial complaint is filed against her husband. Meanwhile, in another part of the courthouse, court officer Foxx begins an unofficial investigation into a twenty-five-year-old murder that occurred there. It’s the least he can do for his dying childhood friend, the convicted killer who still proclaims his innocence. From the inner sanctums and shadowy depths of the historic Manhattan courthouse, old secrets and scandals come to light, entangling both Foxx and Barbara in a web of ruthless ambition and dangerous obsession . . .