States of Grace (Grace Locke Novel Book 1)

Disgraced prosecutor and disabled Army veteran Grace Locke is one misstep away from losing her law license for good. Fresh out of jail, living in a no-tell-motel, and eating ramen, Grace has no option but to turn to the dark side, defending the types of criminals she used to relish locking up. To make things worse, she’s fighting the opioid addiction that got her in this mess in the first place.

With few options to salvage her career and pay the bills, Grace schemes to defend a trust-fund teen accused of capital murder. But her plan has two flaws. One—Grace believes accused equals guilty. Two—the accused is the daughter of the beauty queen who stole Grace’s husband.

Much to her surprise, Grace soon discovers her client may not be guilty after all. With the cops looking the other way and misdirecting her every step, the only explanation that makes sense to Grace is the dead guy was neck deep in the criminal underworld.

When Grace discovers irrefutable evidence of her client’s innocence, the race is on to find the real killer and leads her deep inside Florida’s illegal pill mill trade. But is it be too late for Grace to save her young client from the death chamber and herself from ruin?

Praise for States of Grace:

“States of Grace is a powerful, compelling crime debut that captures the dark side of South Florida with verve and style. It pairs nicely with Grace, a three-dimensional and memorable protagonist. Miller paints a bleak, realistic picture that readers will not soon forget.”
—Alex Segura, award winning author of Secret Identity; Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall and the three-time Anthony Award-nominated Pete Fernandez Miami Mystery series

“Grace Locke came home from Iraq with a purple heart and a prosthetic leg. She’s an ex-junkie, ex-prosecutor, ex-wife, and now she’s taking on an unwinnable murder case as a defense attorney. Mandy Miller has written an unnerving and irresistible novel of judicial intrigue and betrayal set in the volatile South Florida netherworld of opioid addiction. As in the best of plots, nothing here is as it seems. States of Grace is engrossing, unpredictable, and fast-paced. So grab yourself a drink, settle into your easy chair, open the book, and begin. You’re home for the evening. You are about to be carried away to a world more vivid and, in this case, a hell of a lot scarier, than the one you’re living in.”
—John Dufresne, Author of New York Times Notable Books of the Year—Louisiana Power and Light and Love Warps the Mind A Little; Storyville; The Lie That Tells the Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction

"The dialog zings, the plot races, the Florida setting is richly detailed, the characters are 3-D, intriguing and fresh, and the prose is muscular and witty. Oh, yes, then there's Grace, the star, a full-bodied, complicated and fascinating woman. The pages flew by in a happy blur. What more can one ask for in a legal thriller? Even more amazing is that this well-crafted story is a debut novel. Mandy Miller is the real thing, a writer of consequence who I'm certain will have a long and distinguished career."
—James W. Hall, Edgar and Shamus Award Winning Author of the Thorn series