Ocean Court

Ocean Court, Arlaine Rockey, Xlibris Corporation, 1999

A homeless man is found dead in present-day Miami. It's no big thing, until the business card of Jonathan Britton, a rising young attorney at Miami Legal Assistance, is found in his possession. Jonathan asks around in Miami's homeless community about the man, a Cuban named Spider who came to Miami in the Mariel Boatlift of the early 80s. Jonathan is found dead a few days later.

Avery Guerin, another MLA attorney, and Jonathan's sometime lover, asks questions on her own. The story moves to Key West as Avery and Stuart, her law school intern with whom she has a rather torrid relationship, look for a homeless Nicaraguan who spoke to Jonathan soon before his death. The Nicaraguan is actually a writer researching a book on formerly successful people who fell through the cracks during the Reagan/Bush years.

Suspicion falls on Alex, another MLA attorney and Jonathan's mentor who is a former member of the Florida legislature. Without giving things away, the story then moves to the courtroom.

This is an excellent legal mystery. It's got murder, intrigue, sex, and Rockey, an attorney who practices in Miami, does a very good job at keeping the reader guessing until the end.