Second Chair (A Stan Turner Mystery) (Stan Turner Mysteries) [Paperback]

William Manchee (Author)

Book Description

Series: Stan Turner Mysteries | Publication Date: July 1, 2000

It's 1981 in Dallas and Stan decides to throw a Christmas party at his home as a way of saying thanks to the clients who have sustained him during his first tumultuous year in the practice of law. As Stan's luck would have it, a client is killed and Stan is blamed for his death. While trying to shield himself from the wrath of the grieving widow, he's asked to defend a young college student charged with murdering her newborn child. Knowing he lacks the experience for such an undertaking, he enlists his former criminal law professor to be "Second Chair." What he doesn't know is the professor, who everyone calls "Snake" is a drunk and a womanizer. When Snake fails to show up for the last few days of trial Stan is devastated.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In his third mystery, series protagonist Stan Turner, a Dallas lawyer, defends a young woman accused of murdering her illegitimate newborn. With an alcoholic father, a disagreeable stepmother, adverse public opinion, and no memory of giving birth, the girl stands little chance of acquittal. Stan's belief in her innocence brings unwanted attention, threats, and his own religious-fanatic stalker. Other problems include a suit against Stan for an "accidental" death on his property and the mysterious disappearance of his crucially important legal consultant. Unfortunately, plot alone cannot sustain interest: glaring grammatical gaffes, unwarranted filler, and unsophisticated prose get in the way. Not recommended.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

...Appealing characters and lively dialogue, especially in the courtroom, make this an easy, entertaining read. -- Publisher's Weekly, June 26, 2000

Like Undaunted and Brash Endeavor, Second Chair takes the reader for the ride of their life. -- The Norman Transcript

Manchee's story is a page turner. He manages to keep the reader's interest with a serpentine plot and realistic dialogue -- The Richardson News

The courtroom scenes are superb, intoxicating, the descriptions filled with power...the novel shows Manchee as a smooth, polished master of the mystery form. -- The Book Reader, America's Most Independent Review of New Books

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Top Publications; 1 edition (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966636694
• ISBN-13: 978-0966636697
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,696,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm originally from Ventura, California where I grew up during the 50s and 60s. My wife Janet and I were married while I was attending UCLA and she was attending nursing school. We immediately started having children and had three boys and a girl by the time I graduated from SMU Law School. With four young children we decided to stay in Dallas, where we had family and friends, rather than returning to California. I started law practice in the late 70's and today practice consumer law with my son, Jim. About twelve years ago I took on a famous romance author as a client and, after working with her for a while, I started wondering if I could write a novel myself. Eventually I gave it a shot and found I really enjoyed the writing process. After that it only took a few generous reviews of my first novel and I was hooked. My current novel, Tarizon: Civil War is my fourteenth and my goal is to continue to write a novel a year for the rest of my life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Read, September 6, 2000

By 

Pamela Stone - See all my reviews

This review is from: Second Chair (A Stan Turner Mystery) (Stan Turner Mysteries) (Paperback)

Second Chair is the 3rd installment of Stan Turner, The 1st was UNDAUNTED and the 2nd was BRASH ENDEAVOR.

Dallas Attorney Stan Turner and his wife Rebekah are having a Christmas party with family, friends, and clients as their guests. During the party the lights go out. As Stan gets the fuse changed and the lights come back on, he hears a scream. Stan rushes to where he heard the scream come from and sees his friend and CPA Bobby Wiggins lying in the flowerbed face up. The cause of death is massive coronary caused by the fall on the ice. Marleen Wiggins decides to sue Stan for 2 million dollars because of negligence in not sanding the sidewalk.

This is only one of the cases that Stan is working on. Stan is asked to defend a young woman named Sarah Winters for killing her child, which she claims to remember nothing about. Before the trial even gets started, Stan and his family start getting threats through the mail, the letters are cut out of magazines so they can not be traced, the first one said:

"YE DEFENDERS OF THE DEVIL BEWARE! DEATH WILL BE YOUR ONLY REWARD. REPENT BEFORE YOU FACE ETERNAL DAMNATION. TIME IS SHORT UNTIL THE LIVING WILL AVENGE THE DEAD." Signed DOOMSLAYER.

After a court appearance, Stan's beautiful corvette has all of its tires slashed and windows broken out and a message scratched on his hood saying; " YE SHALL NOT ESCAPE THE VENGEANCE OF THE LORD. -- DOOMSLAYER.

Even after all of that, Stan decides to keep on defending Sarah because he believes in her innocence. After the trial starts, Stan is all most run down in the parking garage, his dog is also killed in their back yard, and his trial note book is stolen out of his office the night before a court appearance and he must recreate the note book in 8 hours before court reconvenes.

Stan Turner is a very pleasant guy and the kind of lawyer that we would all love to have in our corner. All of the characters are believable and fit into the plot.

William Manchee has done it again with " Second Chair ". I have not had the pleasure of reading the first two Stan Turner Mysteries, " Undaunted " and " Brash Endeavor " but you can bet that I will be adding them both to my private collection of books. I have had the honor of reading " Death Pact " to review, and I will say that it is the best book that I have ever read so far; " Second Chair " is a close second to " Death Pact. "

William Manchee can spin a tale that totally keeps you holding on and wanting more. You can bet that I will read anything that this talented author puts out.

Kudos to William Manchee for a 5 star read again!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AuthorZone.Com Book Review, July 19, 2003

By 

AuthorZone.Com Book Review (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Second Chair (A Stan Turner Mystery) (Stan Turner Mysteries) (Paperback)

by Pam Stone
Second Chair is the 3rd installment of Stan Turner Mystery series, the 1st was "Undaunted" and the 2nd was "Brash Endeavor." Dallas Attorney Stan Turner and his wife Rebekah are having a Christmas party with family, friends, and clients as their guests. During the party the lights go out. As Stan gets the fuse changed and the lights come back on, he hears a scream. Stan rushes to where he heard the scream come from and sees his friend and CPA Bobby Wiggins lying in the flowerbed face up. The cause of death is massive coronary caused by the fall on the ice. Marleen Wiggins decides to sue Stan for 2 million dollars because of negligence in not sanding the sidewalk. This is only one of the cases that Stan is working on. Stan is asked to defend a young woman named Sarah Winters for killing her child, which she claims to remember nothing about. Before the trial even gets started, Stan and his family start getting threats through the mail, the letters are cut out of magazines so they can not be traced, the first one said:

"YE DEFENDERS OF THE DEVIL BEWARE! DEATH WILL BE YOUR ONLY REWARD. REPENT BEFORE YOU FACE ETERNAL DAMNATION. TIME IS SHORT UNTIL THE LIVING WILL AVENGE THE DEAD." Signed DOOMSAYER.

After a court appearance, Stan's beautiful corvette has all of its tires slashed and windows broken out and a message scratched on his hood saying;

" YE SHALL NOT ESCAPE THE VENGEANCE OF THE LORD. -- DOOMSAYER.

Even after all of that, Stan decides to keep on defending Sarah because he believes in her innocence. After the trial starts, Stan is all most run down in the parking garage, his dog is also killed in their back yard, and his trial note book is stolen out of his office the night before a court appearance and he must recreate the note book in 8 hours before court reconvenes.
Stan Turner is a very pleasant guy and the kind of lawyer that we would all love to have in our corner. All of the characters are believable and fit into the plot. William Manchee has done it again with "Second Chair." I have not had the pleasure of reading the first two Stan Turner Mysteries, "Undaunted" and "Brash Endeavor " but you can bet that I will be adding them both to my private collection of books. I have had the honor of reading " Death Pact " to review, and I will say that it is the best book that I have ever read so far; "Second Chair" is a close second to "Death Pact." William Manchee can spin a tale that totally keeps you holding on and wanting more. You can bet that I will read anything that this talented author puts out.

Kudos to William Manchee for a 5 star read again!

5.0 out of 5 stars I give it 5 STARS!, March 30, 2011

By 

Christine Tuttle "chrissy" (Dunellen, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Second Chair (A Stan Turner Mystery) (Stan Turner Mysteries) (Paperback)

I've just completed "Second Chair", which has become my NEWEST favorite by William Manchee! I don't know how an author can continue to surpass their work, but Mr. Manchee has done it again! There are so many things going on in this story, all of which FORCE you to read as quickly as you can, so you can find out the ending ......... which of COURSE does NOT disappoint! This author is such an enjoyable story teller, surprising you over and over in each novel. I love courtroom dramas, and "Second Chair" has an incredible drama played out in court. No spoilers, but suffice it to say, if you love legal thrillers, you NEED to add this to your "to read" list! 5 STARS!