L. A. Sheriff Lieutenant Max Cort is accused of killing his wife, but how do you prosecute a murder trial without a body? This high-profile courtroom drama has local TV newscasts scrambling for legal commentary. One station invites law professor and attorney Jake Clearwater to handle the nightly updates on the hearing. Jake gained fame for defending a convicted murderer on death row, winning him a retrial, exposing the real killer, and getting his client released from prison.Early in Cort's trial, Jake realizes it's not going the prosecution's way, and when it ends in a hung jury, the District Attorney asks Jake to head the retrial team. When Jake and his team dig deeper into Lieutenant Cort they develop more evidence, challenge the suspect's alibi, and expose Cort's obsessive ambition and unbridled brutality. With an expensive, high-powered attorney, the defense continues to claim the wife ran away. But as Jake systematically bears in, the question is no longer just about Cort's guilt or innocence. The real question becomes whether any of the lawyers involved will survive to see the outcome of this trial. Cost of Deceit is the second book in the award-winning Jake Clearwater Legal Thriller series.