Forcing Amaryllis

Book excerpt: From “a wonderful new voice” comes a haunting thriller that “combines grit, guts, tension, compassion, and wry humor to make a gripping story” (Gillian Roberts, author of the Amanda Pepper Mysteries). When it comes to picking jurors, Calla Gentry is one of the best. She can discern the right people to serve, steering trials towards acquittals or convictions before they even begin. It’s both an art and a science, knowing people better than they know themselves. And Calla plays the system like a master. Her newest case seems open and shut: get the wealthy son of a rancher acquitted of rape and murder. But as Calla investigates, she discovers evidence that plunges her back into a horrific event from the past—a trauma from which her sister has never recovered. Now Calla fears she must help defend the very man who inflicted that horror. Or perhaps she finally has the chance to take revenge for her sister . . . and put a monster behind bars for good. Brilliantly capturing the heat and culture of the southwest, this dizzying thriller “offers a surprisingly tender tale of sisterly vengeance” (Publishers Weekly).