The Judge's List

Lacy Stoltz is turning 40 and feeling dissatisfied with her life. Her job with the Bureau of Judicial Conduct is unchallenging. Her relationship with her boyfriend Allie Pacheco is stalled. She craves something different, but at the same time, she does not know what she wants to do next. Lacy tends to be a prudent character—responsible and conscientious but lacking in the craving for novelty that drives her brother Gunther. Consequently, she has stayed too long in a familiar but unstimulating job. It is time for her to move on.

The author set out to write a more “realistic” female character than the ones who usually appear in legal thrillers. Action-heavy stories—when they contain female characters at all—tend to focus on “kick-ass heroines” who are skilled in hand-to-hand combat and the weaponry and are generally as physically strong and aggressive as male characters. Lacy is none of those things. When an action hero is required, she calls on her brother Gunther, who represents the physical strength and aggression that she lacks.

One of Lacy’s most prominent characteristics emerges through her relationships with other women. In the previous book, the author put great emphasis on Lacy’s female friendships. In this story, Lacy and Jeri negotiate a prickly friendship, hampered largely by Jeri’s obsession, but despite the fact that Jeri periodically tramples Lacy’s personal boundaries, Lacy feels guilty for not reciprocating Jeri’s desire for connection.