State's Evidence: A Beverly Mendoza Legal Thriller

When a well-known judge is murdered and his wife sexually assaulted, Assistant District Attorney Beverly Mendoza is brought onto the case. No one is quite sure why the judge's wife wasn't killed also, but the main suspect was sent to prison years ago by the judge and has recently been released. While out enjoying time with her son, Beverly faces someone who she is sure has something to do with the murders happening around town and a recent victim points him out in a lineup. On the other side of the bench is Judge Grant Nunez, also Beverly's lover, who has been newly appointed to the position. Though their relationship is deepening, the case is drawing a line between them and when asked to back off, Beverly isn't sure how to respond. She has to balance her personal feelings against what's right professionally. STATE'S EVIDENCE, the new legal thriller by R. Barri Flowers, is a mixture of murder, mystery, madness and mayhem. The story was well-written and believable, and at times erotic. Flowers inflicted the characters with human flaws, among them the desire for love and revenge. I especially enjoyed Beverly being shown as a well-rounded woman as she dealt with interactions with her son and Grant's place in her life. Reviewed by Tee C. Royal of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

After winning a capital murder case in Judge Crawford's courtroom, Assistant District Attorney in Wilameta County in Northern California Beverly Mendoza and her co-chair and lover Deputy D.A. Grant Nunez celebrate. So does the judge and his young wife but their party dissolves into a massacre when a Latina male kills the judge and brutally rapes his wife. Through good eye witnesses testimony the wife is able to point out the killer, rapist Rafael Santiago, in two line ups. The judge had sentenced him to hard time; twelve years behind bars. he vowed revenge when he was sentenced. Beverly is the prosecuting attorney and Grant, who has been appointed as a judge, is on the bench for what seems like a slam dunk case. While at a Burger King with her son, Beverly spots a man who looks almost identical to Rafael. The police are looking for Manuel Gonzalez in the death of at least three women and he has singled out Beverly as her next target. He is arrested before he can harm her but he throws a monkey wrench into Rafael's case and causes Beverly to doubt her own beliefs. R. Barri Flowers has written an electrifying and enthralling legal thriller that will appeal to readers of Nancy Taylor Rosenberg and Barbara Parker. The courtroom scenes are very realistic and the heroine is someone readers will empathize with and admire as a role model for minorities and women. STATE'S EVIDENCE would make a great action packed move. Harriet Klausner