Phillip Margolin

Phil has been a good friend to MBTB for years, but he had a complaint about us: Everytime he's been here for a signing, he winds up buying a bunch of books! Phil is a mystery fan as well as a well-recognized mystery author.

Supreme Justice is a follow-up to Executive Privilege, reuniting the key characters who unearthed a presidential contretemps. Now the team must deal with the Supremes (as in Court, not "Baby Love"). In researching this novel, Phil got a back door tour of the Supreme Court and got to interview a former clerk.

Phil knows that the Supreme Court only hears about four percent of the petitioned cases, so he had to make his fictional case worthy of review. While the crux of the case (a former law enforcement officer is accused of killing her lover) is fictional, he did include a real-life detail. The case begins with a "ghost ship," based on a real abandoned hulk found in Oregon waters.

Since he was an attorney for many years before embarking on his second life as an author, there's a real smack of authenticity to his tales. However, it's not just all action and legal mayhem; he still relishes describing the philosophical issues his books present.