I had no idea what to pick up to read next,  but this had sounded very good when I put it on ye olde wish list at Audible and I’d very much enjoyed Stagg’s prior two novels in this series so …  Yes it’s a thriller (suspense and chase scenes) as well as being a mystery (a who-done-it, how-done, etc)  with some procedural (cop-shop details) stuff as well as courtroom action.  

Blind Conviction
by Michael Stagg 
Read by George Newbern 10h 6m
Rating:  A+ / legal thriller 
(#3 in Neal Shepherd Legal series) 

This is a fairly fast-paced legal thriller set in a small Ohio town not too far from the Michigan border, the protagonist is Neal Shepherd, a likable defense attorney for whom the series is named. Neal is a youngish widower who lives in a small Michigan town while working in Ohio. Helping him in his one-man office is Olive an office assistant who is also employed at a local gym called the Brick House. Shepherd’s other assistant is Danny who does investigations.  

In his new case Neal Shepherd is defending Archie Mack for the attempted murder of Neal’s future sister-in-law, Abby Ackerman. The Macks are an old local family with considerable acreage divided into three equal parts, the center parcel for the parents  and a piece on each side for their boys, Archie and Hamish.  

It was Abby, Hamish Mack’s fiancé, who was left very badly beaten and at the foot of a steep stairway near a river while a music festival played behind them. Although the police arrested Archie, Abby and Archie both deny it was him and they have no idea who the villain was. There are an abundance of clues pointing to Archie and Hamish is especially angry.  

There’s nothing fancy here, but it’s a darned good ride  and I even laughed out loud at a couple lines.