Local Rules: Local Rules [Paperback]

Brandon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1996

When citified attorney Jordan Marshall is ticketed for speeding and hauled before the bench of Judge Waverly of Green Hills, Texas, he is sentenced to serve as court-appointed defender for Wayne Orkney, a local boy accused of attempted murder of his best friend. When the charges escalate to capital murder, he must risk the wildest stunt of his courtroom career to get to the truth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An overeager sheriff's deputy sparks the quirk of fate that finds Jordan Marshall, former prosecuting attorney in San Antonio, acting as defense for a young man accused of murder in a tiny Texas town. Hauled in to the Green Hills courthouse on a speeding violation, Marshall is appointed by the presiding judge to represent the murder suspect in his arraignment. But what should have been a five-minute pro forma exercise takes on life-changing importance as Marshall, convinced that justice is being ill-served in the case, uncovers another murder and turns up a big-city number of small-town secrets. In swiftly moving prose and with an affectionately rendered, credible cast, Brandon (Loose Among the Lambs) delivers a solid string of riveting, detailed courtroom dramas?and some moving bedroom scenes as well. A few holes in the plot and an obvious red herring do little to impede the pleasures of time spent in the company of Marshall and the Green Hills' citizenry.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The author of the popular Loose Among the Lambs writes of small-town murder.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671884093
• ISBN-13: 978-0671884093
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,562,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jay Brandon (1953- ) grew up and his lived primarily in San Antonio, Texas. A graudate of the University of Texas, he also has a Master's degree from The Writing Seminars of Johns Hopkins University, and a J.D. from the University of Houston.
Brandon is the author of 15 novels and one book of non-fiction, as well as a number of short stories published in anthologies.
Brandon has also been a lawyer since 1985. His first job out of law school was at the Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas. He then served as an assistant district attorney of Bexar County (San Antonio), Texas, and a staff attorney on the Fourth Court of Appeals of Texas, before going into private practice in 1990.
Brandon's 1990 novel FADE THE HEAT, his first legal thriller, was shortlisted for the Edgar Award and optioned by Amblin Entertainment. That and later novels have been published by more than a dozen foreign published, with worldwide distribution.
Brandon is married and the father of three children. He is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the American Crime Writers League (although he generally dislikes belonging to any group; just a natural prejudice).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars More true-to-life than most, May 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Local rules (Hardcover)

The story is laid out above (Editorial Reviews). So I'll just add that I liked it. It was pleasantly different than most legal
mysteries in that it was about regular people in a rural town, not your wealth blahblahblah clients who can and do buy and
manipulate everything and everyone in sight.
This is the third book by Jay Brandon I've read and enjoyed.

The only blooper I found was that the lawyer went looking to see if the defendant was wearing a ring. Everything is taken
from you when you are processed into jail.

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic courtroom drama told just at the right pace, July 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Local Rules: Local Rules (Paperback)

Unlike the works of John Grisham, this classic coutroom drama is told at a bit slower pace, leaving enough time to watch the story unfold and enjoy the characters, yet it never gets boring and pages are turned just as quickly, maybe even faster.

I specifically enjoyed the fact that the mystery unfolds around one single case only, and is solved within the confines of the original setting (a small village and its courtroom) without resolving to surprising outside developments which in other courtroom dramas sometimes come from left field. This allows the reader to keep guessing at the solution without "changing the rules" halfway through the book.

Brandon needs no subplots and doesn't have to jump between multiple storylines to spice up his book, the suspense comes from the classic "whodunit" question, which in this case is overshaded by the questions of "whydunit" and the mystery of the strange behavior of the entire village.

I would! certainly recommend this book, however, for readers that look for more action-packed drama, there may not be enough "meat" in this novel.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, March 5, 2002

By 

"damon_dee" (IRELAND) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Local Rules: Local Rules (Paperback)

Wicked. Cool. Sorted. Jay Brandon is da man. Aiiight! Boo ya!