Defending Angels
Mary Stanton
Berkley, $7.99, 304 pages, ISBN: 9780425224984
reviewed by Harriet Klausner

In Savannah, Georgia, Bree Winston-Beaufort takes over her late Uncle Franklin’s law practice. While renovating his office, she temporarily rents space that is within walking distance from her town house from elderly, weird Mrs. Lavinia Mather who mentions the cemetery from the historical early eighteenth century turns people off.

However, before she can settle into her practice, Bree receives a call from despised billionaire Benjamin Skinner, who pleads with her to defend him. However, as she considers taking on the case, Bree knows there is a minor problem with this client; he is dead. Benjamin desperately needs an attorney to defend him in the Celestial Court for violating the Celestial Law code on avarice. To make a case in his defense, she needs willing witnesses ready to testify that Skinner had altruistic moments. Private investigator Gabriel Striker accompanies Bree as their search for a character witness feels increasingly like finding a needle in a haystack.

The stunned Bree makes this superb paranormal cozy into a great tale as she adapts to the wonder yet perplexing celestial realm, celestial law, and celestial courtroom procedures. Readers will enjoy her journey into the supernatural side of Savannah along side the hunk of a sleuth. Fans who relish something different will want to accompany Bree as she mounts a defense for a client whose middle name is greed in an angelic court not of his peers.

Editor's Note: This is a real charmer of a novel. I expect to see many more books in this delightful series. It has to be a series because of her office being in the middle of a cemetery.