A Cure for Night by Justin Peacock

Joel Deveraux is starting to put his life back together after losing his job at a prestigious New York law firm due to drug use. Now clean, he works in Brooklyn as a public defender, handling arraignments day-in and day-out. He is then given the opportunity to assist colleague Myra Goldstein in defending Lorenzo Tate against a murder charge. Lorenzo is accused of the killing of college student Seth Lipton and the attempted murder of Devin Wallace. Joel and Myra work together, interviewing witnesses and trying to build a case to keep Lorenzo out of prison. Their investigation puts Joel close to the temptations that almost ruined his life and both he and Myra become immersed in the case, at times dangerously so. Peacock is able to very successfully combine the story of Joel's recovery along with that of preparing for trial. Readers of legal fiction will be overjoyed to find a new author.