The Watch

Newly-minted lawyer A.J. Garrison returns home to practice law in The Watch by Jerry Peterson. Even though she is a hometown girl, clients are rare at first. Then the widow of a friend of hers asks A.J. to be the executor of his estate. It seems pretty straightforward until A.J. discovers Teddy Wilson had one hundred thousand dollars in cash in his safety deposit box.

Unsure where the money came from, A.J. worries Teddy may have been embezzling from his father's bank. A bank audit reveals this was not the case. In addition to this problem, A.J. has found a note on her car window asking "Who murdered Dr. Taylor?" Three years prior Dr. Taylor, much loved in town, was murdered and no suspects were every found.

A.J. shares office space with attorney Hammond McTeer, a long established lawyer in town. When she explains about her two dilemmas, he encourages her to pursue both of them.


As A.J. digs deeper, she finds she needs help in the form of State Police officer Scotty Moore. Working together with her pilot father Will Click, they discover a pattern of flights made by Teddy. As they continue to dig, they discover a conspiracy that could shake their community to its core.

I enjoyed this book and the unraveling of the solution of one of the problems. The writing is excellent and the descriptions are realistic. A.J. and Scotty balance each others strengths and work well together. As for the second problem, I felt it was a little to easy to solve. I also could do with less air traffic controller dialogue. In some chapters it was two pages long. I appreciate the knowledge of flying small planes, but I did not feel it was integral to the plot.

I do look forward to the next book in the A.J. Garrison series.