Pleasantville, Locke - B +

             Many years after we met him in 'Black Water Rising', Jay Porter is approaching 50, mourning his late wife, putting in just enough effort to keep his law office open and struggling with his two kids, particularly his 15-year-old daughter. He's about to lose the case he's been pursuing against a polluting chemical company to another lawyer when he gets roped into defending a young black man framed for a murder because he's running his uncles campaign for mayor of Houston. The DA is the opponent. It's a  very good read and in my opinion, the best of the four books by this author that I've read this year. Pleasantville is a section of Houston built in the post-war era to provide suburban-like housing for Houston's black middle class.