8/17/2006 Janelle Martin Book Review originally posted at Eclectic Closet Litblog (http://antheras.blogspot.com):

Harry Jenkins has worked under his senior partner’s thumb for years in a Toronto small estates practice. When his partner drops dead from a stroke in their office, suddenly Harry is on his own and free to run their law-firm his own way. Almost immediately, he is swept into the conflict surrounding the estate of his wealthy client, Marjorie Deighton, and the massive money-laundering scheme engineered by the enigmatic Mr. Chin. Harry is convinced Marjorie was murdered but Sergeant Welkom gives little credence to his theories until Marjorie’s will is stolen and her maid found murdered.

At the root of Conduct in Question is the sadistic murderer dubbed by the media as “The Florist.� The Florist haunts Toronto, a serial killer who marks his victims with his “art,� floral designs he carves into their skin. The Florist hides behind the rigidly controlled mask he presents the world. Is The Florist somehow involved in the money-laundering scheme in which Harry is mired? Will Harry, despite his naïveté and personal troubles, find the answers before The Florist kills again?

Mary E. Martin has crafted a solid beginning to her trilogy of legal thrillers. A bit slow at the start, readers will soon be drawn into the drama created by the bickering members of Marjorie’s family, and the slowly blossoming relationship between Harry and realtor Natasha Boretsky. Harry is a very human character who is torn between his desire to uphold the ethics of the law and to keep his practice afloat. The manner in which Harry faces these dilemmas provides heart to this thriller.

Mary E. Martin, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, practiced law in Toronto for twenty-eight years. Conduct in Question is her first novel.