When Paul Madriani's old friend, flamboyant criminal-defense lawyer Nick Rush, is gunned down on the streets of San Diego along with a client, Madriani sets out to find the killer. He follows the trail through shady real-estate dealings, cross-border smuggling, political corruption, and a nasty fight between Rush's ex and his young trophy wife over a hefty life-insurance policy. Eventually the case leads Madriani to the Yucatan Peninsula near Cancún, where the last third of the book takes place--a dandy locale for skullduggery, even if it does make you suspect that the author thought up the plot while vacationing there.

The Arraignment is marred by some sloppy, foggy-headed writing ("The neighborhood exudes the kind of aura picked up by a sixth sense that lingers and lifts the hair on the back of my neck"), and the plot, after its initial bang, sags for a while before it gets moving again. However, the sheer vigor of Martini's prose, his densely inventive plotting, and his sharply drawn characters carry you happily, tensely along. The book's action scenes--including a hand-to-hand fight in a shabby apartment and an unforgettable poolside shooting at a Cancún resort--are told in fresh, vivid prose that unfolds with hypnotic clarity. And the denouement is great fun, although the complex plot takes a lot of explaining at the end. Martini's not perfect, but he's still one of the best legal/adventure thriller writers going. --Nicholas H. Allison

From Publishers Weekly
Someday, someone may convince Martini or his publishers to come up with book titles that have a little more zip or at least relevance to the plot. Fortunately, the books themselves don't suffer from the same lack of inspiration. Martini's seventh series entry starring San Diego attorney Paul Madriani is one of his finest. It not only showcases Madriani as a man of maturing wisdom, but also as one who hasn't lost too much youthful vigor. Here, his client is the lithesome Dana Rush. She is the trophy wife of Madriani's good friend and fellow lawyer, Nick Rush, who is gunned down outside a downtown courthouse as the novel begins. In taking the case, Madriani feels an obligation to his friend; he wants to make sure Dana gets her just life insurance proceeds. But Madriani is equally as interested in investigating the events surrounding Nick's murder. What he finds-related deaths, drug smuggling, shady land deals and conniving law partners-takes Madriani on an unwholesome tour of Nick's final few months. The case leads Madriani and his law partner Harry Hinds to Mexico, where the action culminates in violence atop a Mayan ruin. Readers may have trouble tying it all together at the end, and they won't be too surprised at the identity of the villain. Yet along the way, Martini shows a deepening talent for character and description, which should put this popular series on continued solid footing for the future. Mystery Guild main selection, Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club featured alternate. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Paul Madriani is back, having agreed to defend a suspicious character because he may know something about the death of Madriani's lawyer friend. The case soon goes international, involving not drugs or guns but priceless pre-Columbian art.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Paul Madriani is back, seeking to uncover the riddle of his friend Nick Rush's death and his connection to Gerald Metz, a shady Mexican businessman. Both men were gunned down during a conversation outside the federal courthouse. As an attorney, Madriani seeks justice for Rush's ex-wife and current wife; as a PI, Madriani wants to know: Why Rush? Joe Mantegna's steady reading follows the legal ruminations as Madriani pursues false leads and hidden relationships. As Mantegna differentiates personalities by changing his phrasing and pacing, Madriani's dogged investigation brings unexpected results. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
In Martini's best Paul Madriani novel to date, the aging, intellectual attorney finds himself defending the accused killer of his friend and colleague, the outrageous Nick Rush, who was gunned down while speaking to a scumbag client Paul had refused to represent. As guilt eats away at him (if he had agreed to take the case, it would have been him on the slab because the client was the target), Paul takes on the case so that he can find out for himself what the connection was between Nick and a strange lot of characters who seem to have had secret past dealings with him. Expecting to find a drug or weapons ring at the root of the mystery, Paul instead finds that an ancient Mayan artifact is the source of everyone's greed. While Martini's strength has always been his courtroom scenes, he shows his versatility here by making various paper-pushing legal matters--such as insurance policies and property settlements--seem intriguing and even exciting. Plus, in uncovering this sordid tale, which takes Paul from his home in San Diego to Mexico and Guatemala, Martini further develops Paul into a thoughtful, full-bodied character. A top-notch entry in a popular series. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

Paul Madriani accepted this case for the most unlikely reason: He is convinced that his new client holds the key to a lawyer friend's violent death. As Madriani improvises his new role as defense counselor/clandestine investigator, he discovers that he has stumbled into an international plot even more dangerous and devious than any drug cartel.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Defense attorney Paul Madriani tackles the most challenging case of his career - the chilling murder of a friend on a crowded city street - in this suspenseful new novel in the bestselling series." "After a friend and fellow lawyer is killed along with his client in a hail of gunfire outside the federal courthouse in San Diego, attorney Paul Madriani takes on another client, who, he suspects, is involved at the edges of the double murder. Madriani wants to know who killed his friend and why. He is torn by questions of conflict between his duty to a client who may be a killer and the need to know the truth, for Madriani must wonder whether he himself had been marked for death, only to have a friend die in his place." Madriani finds himself drawn into a vortex of crime that spans the Americas. Without realizing, he is suddenly riding the crest of a dangerous wave involving a family of wealthy international developers and people who murder for money. When the police focus on the wrong motive for the killings, thereby threatening to close the book on another unsolved crime, Madriani sets off on a deadly quest that takes him from California to the steaming jungles of Mexico and the ancient cultures of the Yucatan. There he discovers that while death may be driven by distant and exotic motives, the killer, like a serpent, lies much closer at hand.

SYNOPSIS

Taut, high speed, and packing a trademark wallop of a plot twist at the end, this new Steve Martini novel leaves no doubts as to lawyer-hero Paul Madriani's supremacy among the legion of courthouse protagonists in contemporary fiction. Hard-hitting and intelligent, The Arraignment shows why Steve Martini remains the most popular and acclaimed practitioner of the form.

After a close lawyer friend is killed￯﾿ﾽalong with a high-profile client￯﾿ﾽin a hail of gunfire outside the federal courthouse, Paul Madriani reluctantly takes on the surviving co-defendant's case. As Paul warily sorts through the evidence surrounding his friend's murder, The Arraignment steadily gathers momentum and guides us toward a shattering and wholly unpredictable climax.

FROM THE CRITICS

Washington Post

Martini...has an unsurpassed understanding of just how cynical...the legal world can be...

Publishers Weekly

Someday, someone may convince Martini or his publishers to come up with book titles that have a little more zip or at least relevance to the plot. Fortunately, the books themselves don't suffer from the same lack of inspiration. Martini's seventh series entry starring San Diego attorney Paul Madriani is one of his finest. It not only showcases Madriani as a man of maturing wisdom, but also as one who hasn't lost too much youthful vigor. Here, his client is the lithesome Dana Rush. She is the trophy wife of Madriani's good friend and fellow lawyer, Nick Rush, who is gunned down outside a downtown courthouse as the novel begins. In taking the case, Madriani feels an obligation to his friend; he wants to make sure Dana gets her just life insurance proceeds. But Madriani is equally as interested in investigating the events surrounding Nick's murder. What he finds-related deaths, drug smuggling, shady land deals and conniving law partners-takes Madriani on an unwholesome tour of Nick's final few months. The case leads Madriani and his law partner Harry Hinds to Mexico, where the action culminates in violence atop a Mayan ruin. Readers may have trouble tying it all together at the end, and they won't be too surprised at the identity of the villain. Yet along the way, Martini shows a deepening talent for character and description, which should put this popular series on continued solid footing for the future. Mystery Guild main selection, Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club featured alternate. (Jan. 6) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Paul Madriani, a criminal lawyer who avoids drug cases, is enlisted by a colleague's wife to help with the insurance settlement of her slain husband. The claim is complicated and eventually Madriani undertakes the investigation of the murder. The mystery unravels as he works his way through a collection of characters, including a prestigious art commissioner, some murderous thugs, and an attorney with a serious grudge. William Dufris's narration is seamless and unerringly accurate. Every character is convincingly portrayed, and the story's cadence is swift and encompassing. Unfortunately, this novel is so complex that it requires an extensive epilog, a curious conclusion to a tale told in the present tense. Recommended with reluctance.-Ray Vignovich, West Des Moines P.L. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile

William Dufris, an outstanding narrator, pours empathy and a unique style into his characterizations. Lawyer/detective Paul Madriani, a well-developed, thoughtful hero, hears as a fellow lawyer, the outrageous Nick Rush, is fatally shot outside the courthouse in San Diego. Madriani uncovers a sordid tale in attempting to find out who killed Nick and why. Dufris develops vocal characterizations for the various greedy lowlifes, police detectives, ex-wives, and lawyers. The heart of the mystery involves Colombia—not drugs, as one might expect, but priceless pre-Columbian art—and leads Madriani to Canc￯﾿ﾽn and Guatemala. Dufris handles both the twisted, action-packed plot and the accents with finesse, using pauses and vocal shifts effectively. A legal mystery par excellence. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews