Five Stars, Must Read
Read a review by Heather Gallagher, New York Book Festival award-winning novelist, on Reedsy Discovery From the novel:
As Mason approached his office, he saw, outside the office's front door, a man of middling age, pacing back and forth and looking nervously over his shoulder. Mason smiled at the stranger, put his key in the lock, and opened the door. He barely had time to flip the sign on the door from Closed to Open when the man was through the door and staring at Mason quizzically. "Are you Mason?" he asked. "I am," Mason replied. "And you are..." "Name's McAllister. Jeremiah McAllister. You can call me Mac. I need a lawyer." "Very well, Mr. McAllister- Mac- what can I do for you?" The man who identified himself as Mac still looked around, left, right, back toward the door, and then again to Mason himself. He was shorter than Mason by half a head, but he held himself erect, and his physique was one of a person used to hard labor. A mill worker, or a prospector, were Mason's guesses. He was dressed in brown work pants, faded and worn through at the knees. His shirt, likewise worn, was a red plaid, open at the collar.His eyes, when they stared directly at the lawyer, were a piercing blue. He still possessed most of his hair, although the original color- likely blond- had been replaced by gray, and receding on top, forming a widow's peak. Mason judged him to be fifty-five, give or take five years. "Mr. Mason, I've been accused of killing my partner, and I've been on the run from a bounty hunter the past month. "Mason managed to keep a neutral expression, but the revelation was intriguing. "So, Mac, you seem to be in dire straits. Maybe you should explain what got you into this situation." "Mister Mason, I'm afraid you're not going to believe it." "I have heard a lot of strange stories. If it has to do with the case, I need to hear it." "Mister Mason, I agree that my partner was killed. He's dead and gone. Those are facts. Only, Mr. Mason, he wasn't killed by me. No sir. He was killed by a ghost."
