Two Lost Boys

It's been 15 years since Marion "Andy" Hardy was convicted of murder and sentenced to die in San Quentin Prison while his younger brother was given a life sentence for the same crime. Janet Moodie, a onetime death row appeals attorney who retreated to the Northern California hills after her husband's death, is coaxed back to work on Hardy's case by his newly appointed postconviction lawyer, Jim Christie. With some trepidation, Janet begins her research with a visit to Hardy followed by weeks of poring over files and transcripts. Then, with the aid of investigator Dave Rothstein, she methodically combs through Hardy's past, looking for any detail his previous attorney may have overlooked that will convince the courts to reconsider his case. What follows for the reader is an inquiry into both the circumstances of the murder and Hardy's background that is as suspense filled as any police procedural. It all ends, refreshingly, in a dramatic climax without a courtroom confrontation.