Alafair Burke is the daughter of the well known crime writer James Lee Burke. I am sure at times she must get tired of constantly being referenced in terms of her father, but to be fair, at least a portion of the buzz surrounding her becoming a novelist is connected to her dad's career. In my case, however, it really means very little since I haven't read any books by her father and know next to nothing about him.

Ms. Burke, however, is clearly not turning to writing because she has nothing better to do. A former deputy district attorney with a law degree from Stanford, Burke teaches criminal law at Hofstra University. Given her background and her father's career it is really not surprising that she wanted to try her hand at writing.

Her debut novel Judgement Calls, recently released in paperback, centers around Samantha Kincaid a fictional deputy district attorney in Portland Oregon. Kincaid works in the Drug and Vice Division and try's not to become cynical while constantly working with the seamy underbelly of the naturally beautiful pacific northwest. Kincaid is a stubborn idealist who bypassed opportunities to make a lot of money working at corporate law firms shuffling papers to be a prosecutor. Recently divorced - she dumped her husband, aka Shoe Boy, after finding him having sex with one of his Nike clients on the dining room table - her job is her life for the most part. It is this stubborn idealism - softened with a sense of humor - that drives her and the book.

The plot centers around the case of Kendra Martin; a thirteen year old runaway who was drugged, violently assaulted and left for dead. Kincaid is convinced by the police officers working on the case to press for attempted murder instead of letting it drop to assault. By relentlessly attempting to get to the bottom of the case, Kincaid finds herself butting heads with practically everyone around her: her boss the District Attorney, her sometimes boyfriend and police officer Chuck Forbes, and even her best friend. More troubling is the fact that her case seems to be unraveling and getting mixed up in a controversial death penalty case that involves Chuck and a potential serial killer on the loose.