After the crime is over, the real drama begins. That's what this riveting collection proves as it carries us from the Salem witch trials to Depression-era Chicago to today's highest-stakes legal dramas. These are thrilling stories of lawyers under pressure, of criminals facing the needle, and of the heartbroken families who hope for justice and who sometimes take it into their own hands.

In James Grippando's "Death, Cheated," a lawyer defends his ex-girlfriend against the investors who bet $1.5 million on her death. In Barbara Parker's "A Clerk's Life," a disillusioned clerk at a corporate law firm suspects the worst of his colleagues when one of the firm's employees is murdered. In Phyllis Cohen's "Designer Justice," an accused murderer thinks he's lucked out when he lands a high-priced lawyer, only to learn that there are worse fates than being found guilty.

A page-turning collection--filled with shocking twists, double-crosses, and edge-of-your-seat suspense.