ILLUSIONS OF TRUST- A Novel by Jeffrey S.Stephens

When attorney Russell Palmer agreed to handle the divorce of a beautiful and wealthy socialite, he never anticipated the tangled web of deceit, corruption, peril—and murder—he would be forced to confront.

Russell Palmer is a New York City attorney who, together with assistance from his private detective associate Robbie Whyte, is well known for taking on unusual and risky matters. When he is approached by the rich and attractive Christina Franco to handle her divorce, he finds her story irresistible.

When Christina describes the abuse she has suffered throughout her marriage, Palmer’s protective instincts are aroused. He is further intrigued when she mentions one of her husband’s associates—a dangerous man Palmer has battled in the past. Despite Whyte’s misgivings, Palmer takes the case.

Soon after making that decision, a series of events unfold that may or may not be related to this beautiful woman and her influential family. They begin with the apparent suicide of a prominent lawyer, followed by a murder for which someone is trying to frame another of Palmer’s clients, and then a federal investigation into a major pharmaceutical company with ties to Christina’s husband.

As Palmer and Whyte seek to determine how some or all these occurrences might intersect, they travel across a varied strata of society, following a trail that leads them from New York’s demi-monde, through the rarified world of the ultra-rich, and up to the halls of Congress. Along the way they meet an assortment of characters, including Christina’s parents—an influential politician and his reclusive wife; an attractive journalist—with a decidedly personal interest in Palmer; and a number of other people populating their client’s world.

As the layers of deceit and corruption are peeled back, Palmer and Whyte do all they can to protect their client and themselves while ensuring that justice, in all its complexity, prevails.