A Death in Arcadia by Michael Papantonio

Arcade Publishing, August 2026

ISBN: 9781648211706

Available: Hardcover, ebook edition

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

Although Monster Librarian is primarily for horror books, we like to stretch ourselves on occasion. A Death In Arcadia is billed as a “legal thriller.”  As everyone knows, in this genre, there is John Grisham, and there is everyone else. How does this one stack up? In this case, for readers that like legal thrillers, this one will provide a reasonable stopgap of material to enjoy between waiting for Grisham releases.

The plot focuses on the abuse and murder of a fifteen year old boy by a guard at a troubled teen facility. Taking the case is the law firm of Nicholas “Deke” Deketonis. The book focuses on the crusading mass tort lawyers vs. Phoenix, the for-profit corporation that runs the detention centers.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable book, although it could have used a bit less legal, and a bit more thriller. The author has a nice touch for plot pacing: he keeps it moving the whole time, and it doesn’t really ever bog down. It is a bit heavy on the legalese, but the author keeps it understandable for those of us who don’t know much about the law. Papantonio has a knack for writing good dialogue, which makes up the majority of the book. One of the best characters, showing the author’s dialogue skill, was the on-the-take politician Bob Minds. I really enjoyed how the character didn’t try to mince words, and spent his time berating and trash-talking the very people signing his paychecks. It was nice to see a character not trying to whitewash what they were doing illegally; he just came out and said it.

As enjoyable as the book was, the characters were very black and white, either completely slimy or completely valorous. Some shades of gray would have made the characters more intriguing. It was also predictable. The bad guys always screwed up, and the good guys never made any mistakes. The lack of push-pull dynamic was a problem: you knew the good guys would always come out on top of whatever situation they were in.

It also felt unrealistic that almost no mention was ever made of the large fees that the lawyers stood to make through winning.  Readers are supposed to believe that trial lawyers are crusaders for good in an unfair world, working for free?  That’s one thing Grisham understands very well and makes clear in his novels. Some mention of money would have made the protagonists seem a lot more realistic: in this they came off as King Deke and the Lawyers of the Round Table. Yes, this is fiction, but that part was a bit much to swallow.

Bottom line? Readers of legal thrillers will probably enjoy this and learn a few things, while waiting for the next Grisham.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson