Lautrec

New York: Dutton Adult, 1990. First Printing Stated . Hard Back. Fine/Near Fine. 5 3/4" x 8 3/4. Mitchell, Bob - Jacket Design. 234 Pages. Blue boards with black quarter-spine with silver lettering and decoration. Author's three inked-lines inscription on the half-title page To Susan, con mucho gusto, Norman Zollinger. The author patterned this story after Albuquerque attorney, Jim Toulouse. Jack Lautrec is a maverick Albuquerque, New Mexico, defense attorney some members of his profession consider him past his prime, one who can't resist taking on the most hopeless cases, the more impossible the better. And his multi-cultural sunbelt city is seemingly willing to supply one after another. But he's never been called on to defend a client in quite the way he must defend his latest one. Young artist Luis Esquibel has been caught red-handed burying the body of a beautiful model, and it's an open- and-shut matter, until Lautrec starts unraveling the police department's "airtight" case, uncovering a conspiracy of lies and silence that no one, least of all his client, wants exposed. Jack has always worked alone, but this time he is teamed, to his surprise, with his partner, and daughter, strong-willed, attractive Marty. She has always steered clear of his kind of law, but this time she has her own reasons for joining him, secrets which link her with the crime and the criminal. Against the backdrop of the picturesque old Southwestern city of Albuquerque, Zollinger weaves a tale of murder, intrigue, and dangerous loyalties, as father and daughter pick their way through two different worlds.