A family is brutally slaughtered in what looks like a break-in. The only survivor is the fifteen-year-old adopted daughter, Cassie. She was hiding under her bed and only saw a brief glimpse of the attacker as he escaped through the backyard. Attorney Samantha Brinkman is appointed Cassie's legal representative as the police investigate.

Sam and her team of paralegal and long-time best friend Michelle and investigator Alec have a lot of questions to answer. What was this attack about? Why would anyone want to kill an ordinary Glendale family? Did they have secrets? Was it a burglary gone bad, or something more sinister? How did Cassie manage to survive? And how will she face a future with no family, no home, and a history of such violence and grief?

Marcia Clark's feisty defense lawyer Samantha Brinkman is back in Moral Defense, the second in the series. Just as with Blood Defense, this novel is fast-paced, thrilling, twisty, and really hard to put down. Marcia Clark, former L.A. prosecutor and masterful writer, has again crafted a novel that takes you on a roller coaster of a ride through law and order, through guilt and innocence, through knowing the truth to questioning every idea. Like all the best thriller writers, she keeps us guessing until the very end. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Galleys for Moral Defense provided by the publisher through NetGalley.com.