Victor Carl, the endearingly bent but effective Philadelphia defense attorney of choice for professional criminals great and small, is back--which is good news for the many fans of William Lashner's Hostile Witness. In Veritas, Carl is hired by a young woman who is convinced that her sister's suicide was really a Mob hit. But Carl, who knows from Mob hits, doesn't believe it. He and his attractive client search for the truth inside Veritas (get it?), the shabby mansion where the family secrets lie buried.