The Defendants takes you back to the night he carved his name in her breasts . . . The guilty party is found murdered. Or was he guilty? Ermeline is arrested because she had motive and opportunity. She hires rookie attorney Thaddeus Murfee, who makes his debut defending his first murder case. Ilene is a beautiful widow who loves horses. Ilene is introduced to Thaddeus one Saturday morning as he is caring for his own horse. She invites him to Christmas dinner. Soon Thaddeus finds himself in great need of her care and she rushes in to help. Paralegal Christine Susmann, home from the war in Iraq, uses her military training to help Thaddeus put together the defense. Together they discover the dark forces behind the case and Christine teaches him how to arm himself and how to shoot—a skill he will need. The suspense mounts while alibis fall away and the killer's plot is discovered. In The Defendants, John Ellsworth puts you right on the front row to witness how murder cases are defended. See the politics behind all criminal cases, and how love can grow out of the strangest beginnings anyone could imagine. In the end, Thaddeus is given a split second to save his own life. His reaction is amazing! The Defendants is the first of four books in the Thaddeus Murfee legal thriller series of books. While the books are numbered 1-4, they may be read in any order. The books in the series are: The Defendants Beyond a Reasonable Death Attorney at Large Chase, the Bad Baby Coming this fall: Defending Turquoise