Boston defense attorney David Cavanaugh was introduced in the award-winning novel Undertow and then established as a gun lawyer to watch in Gospel. Now, author Sydney Bauer's third novel, Alibi, brings him back for another highly compelling case. This series of legal thrillers have proven to be fast moving, engaging affairs and Alibi has exceeded the already high standard set by the earlier 2 books.

The exclusive grounds and lecture halls of Deane University are filled with the privileged young elite of America, blessed with wealth and intelligence and a guaranteed future ahead of them. James Matheson is a typical Deane University student and has a promising legal career before him. All of that is about to change when Jessica Nagoshi, daughter of a Japanese billionaire businessman and the girl James was secretly dating, is found strangled to death in the garden of her family home.

James' first mistake is in lying to the police about his secret relationship with Jessica, but the second mistake is entirely out of his control when his two best friends implicate him in the murder, expecting the alibi they thought he had would hold up. When the alibi fails and the ADA pushes the police hard for an arrest, James Matheson finds himself in the unthinkable position of being accused of murdering the woman he loved.

Boston attorney David Cavanaugh is on hand to step in and represent James, certain of his innocence and determined to correct a grave injustice. From the outset the list of possible suspects begin cropping up, each a plausible alternative to James. But by the same token, each suspect borders on the unthinkable as well. First there's Peter Nagoshi, Jessica's competitive and highly driven brother, then there's Sawyer Jones the young leader of the workers rights activist group Solidarity Global - of which Jessica was also a member. A third suspect emerges from James' own group of friends in the form of H. Edgar Simpson an arrogantly brilliant young man who concocts the plot that saw James arrested in the first place.

I thought that the plot of Alibi was expertly set up to maximise the doubt over all of the possible suspects while building the importance of the coming trial. As a legal thriller, the story hinges on the courtroom drama and the frequency with which the momentum changes.

Alibi builds in intensity, similar in style and tone to an episode of the television series Law and Order. The police are given the floor first and they build their case as they work through the evidence and interview witnesses, suspects and friends. As the picture becomes clearer and the lawyers take over, the intensity steps up and we find ourselves inundated with a widening array of circumstances and possibilities. The only difference here is, unlike on Law and Order, we're firmly on the side of the defense.

This brings us to the question of the characters used in the story and their development over the course of the 3 books in the series so far. As well as David Cavanaugh we are becoming accustomed to the ideosyncracies of his friends and colleagues who make up his world. In particular his girlfriend and fellow attorney Sara Davis remains a steadying and reliable foil. The Boston homicide detectives Lieutenant Joe Mannix and the slightly offbeat Detective Frank McKay provide the odd moment of levity.

Finally, special mention must be made of ADA Roger Katz. Even though there's a murderer to be found and a whole university of wealthy, arrogant prats passing into and out of the picture, "the Kat" remains the enemy to despise. His motivations are purely self-serving and will stab anyone in the back to make himself look good. He also provides great entertainment in the courtroom when facing off against Cavanaugh.

Although Alibi is the 3rd book in a series, Sydney Bauer has ensured that it can be read as a stand-alone novel by supplying a solid background to each of her characters. This is an outstanding legal thriller that sits comfortably as the equal, if not better, to those thrillers written by more celebrated authors worldwide. Sydney Bauer's first novel, Undertow, won the 2007 Davitt Award for Best Crime Novel by an Australian woman - I think Alibi is even better.