Lawyer Jessica Fischer returns in Devil’s Hand (She Writes Press 2025), the second installment in Lori B. Duff’s legal thriller series following Devil’s Defense (reviewed here). This time, Jessica represents Susan Wolan in what initially appears to be a straightforward divorce case. Compared to defending a coach who didn’t want to meet the daughter he fathered in the previous book, this case feels more aligned with Jessica’s values: she’s standing up for a housewife against an abusive and powerful man.
But what should be a simple case—Jessica even took photographs of Susan’s bruises—quickly becomes far more complicated. Susan believes in demons and clings to a strict biblical view that the man is the head of the household. Her soft-spoken, mousy demeanor and inability to articulate clearly what happened make it difficult for Jessica to present a compelling case. The temporary hearing derails in unexpected ways.
Jessica’s personal life becomes just as tangled when her father comes to town. He breaks a leg, flirts with Diane—Jessica’s best friend and legal assistant—and reveals surprising truths about the end of his marriage to Jessica’s mother.
Also returning is Jessica’s boyfriend Bobby, a warm and supportive reporter. Though she loves him, Jessica isn’t sure she wants children—unlike Bobby’s parents and her father, who seem eager to see them married and settled. She still doesn’t feel at home in Ashton, Georgia, and she can’t see Bobby ever leaving. Just as she begins to think she’s earning the town’s respect, something always happens to remind her she may never truly belong. Bobby offers a key insight:
“I think we all see people as a mirror of ourselves. Like, if you want to know what someone has done, check out what they’re accusing their opponent of doing.”
His words strike at the core of Jessica’s struggles—both in her professional role representing Susan and in her personal quest to fit in. Diane also suggests that Jessica tends to project her own beliefs onto others. Her growth over the course of the novel lies in learning to be less judgmental and more accepting of different—though not necessarily wrong—value systems.
Lori B. Duff
Lori B. Duff brings authority and authenticity to her writing. A Georgia resident, she’s been a lawyer and judge for over thirty years and has served as president of both the Georgia Council of Municipal Court Judges and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Frustrated by the unrealistic portrayals of Southern life and courtroom drama in fiction, Duff—twice winner of the Georgia Bar Journal’s annual fiction contest—set out to offer something truer. Devil’s Hand delivers that realism in spades.
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