Tell No Lies by Julie Compton

From the Publisher

Jack Hilliard has the perfect life. A family man with two young sons and a supportive wife that he has loved since the day they met, he’s also on the verge of being elected District Attorney of St. Louis. As secure at home as he is in the courtroom, he has plenty to fight for and nothing to hide.

But everything in Jack’s life is not nearly as perfect as it seems, as he learns when he finally admits to being attracted to one of his old friends and colleagues, Jenny Dodson. Jack tries hard to put his feelings for her aside, but his attraction develops into an obsession that he can’t control. What should have been a terrible mistake never to be repeated turns into even more when Jenny is accused of the murder of one of her clients, and Jack is her only alibi. Now Jack’s in the painful and precarious position of being trapped between saving a friend and protecting his family.

Julie Compton’s searing debut novel, Tell No Lies, is as much a whodunit as it is about why---why does Jack Hilliard do what he does, even when it seems he can’t win, why does Jenny Dodson let him, and why is human nature as much about love and conviction as it is about trust and betrayal?

Publishers Weekly

St. Louis ADA Jack Hilliard has it pretty easy in attorney Compton's less than assured debut. Jack is married to a beautiful and intelligent law professor; he's also the protégé and assumed successor to his influential boss and mentor, DA Earl Scanlon, and is considered by his peers to be an all-around charismatic and upstanding man, both in and out of the courtroom. But all that is hearsay: Jack, for the life of him, keeps making the same mistakes and placing himself again and again in compromising situations-on purpose. In a bid to become district attorney, Jack sidesteps admitting his anti-death penalty stance in order to get elected, then he falls for his campaign treasurer, Jenny Dodson. When Jenny is accused of murder, will Jack provide the alibi that could save her life but wreck his career? Despite Compton's efforts to make Jack sympathetic, many readers will have a hard time caring about a lying, cheating jerk. (May)

Jo Ann Vicarel - Library Journal

Newly elected St. Louis district attorney Jack Hilliard seems to have it all until an old friend is suspected of murder. Her alibi is Hilliard, who just happened to spend the night with her even though he is happily married. Some readers will like this debut by a practicing attorney for its fluid prose and insight into the legal system, but it does not break any ground in the legal thriller genre. [A Minotaur First Edition Selection; see Prepub Mystery, LJ1/08].

Kirkus Reviews

A lawyer's life is dramatically changed by a series of ethical dilemmas. Jack Hilliard has a wonderful wife, two children and a job he loves as assistant DA of St. Louis. When his boss moves to a lucrative new position, he suggests that Jack would be perfect for his job. Jack is hesitant-his position on the death penalty makes him an unlikely candidate-but his boss and the party bigwigs suggest he can finesse his opposition without actually lying. His wife, another lawyer, is doubtful, but his old friend and confidante Jenny Dodson, to whom he has been attracted ever since they worked at the same law firm, pushes him to abandon his principles and accept the challenge. Feeling that the job would give him numerous opportunities to do good, he puts aside his doubts and wins the election. After an alcohol-fueled kiss leads to a night with Jenny, Jack's life is set on the road to destruction. Jenny, who recently revealed a horrifying secret, is arrested for murdering one of her clients on the night Jack was with her. Although Jenny begs him to hold back for the sake of his marriage and career, he goes to the police to provide her with an alibi. Soon enough, his dubious decisions come back to haunt him. Compton's debut is a taut, tense cautionary tale complete with courtroom drama and a surprise ending.

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