L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

Murder, deception, memories that refuse to rise from a long-sealed cesspool, nightmare dreams, drug and alcohol abuse, wild and well-known painter Laura Arcand going to pot and perhaps to prison, a winding investigation, great courtroom drama, Washington state waterscapes and car ferries--all crowd into Fredrick Huebner’s “Shades of Justice” and make one want to read on even when psychiatric testimony in court moves the mind to skipping.

Laura has confessed to killing her husband. Ed Hauser, a prominent local lawyer and her mother’s lover, will lead the defense. But most of the legwork (and there’s a lot of it) is left to fellow counsel Mary Slattery and to Will Hatton, a local boy whom Hauser helped raise. Now a forensic psychiatrist, Hatton returns to Seattle to help in Laura’s defense and uncovers more skulduggery than anyone bargained for.

While Hatton and Slattery run evidence into the ground, Laura fights her nightmares and memory fights her. Did she, does she, know right from wrong? Did she kill while insane or in the grip of post-traumatic stress disorder? Did she kill at all? And how does her husband’s death relate to murky deeds perpetrated a century ago? Read “Shades of Justice” and find out.

In Arabella Edge’s “The Company,” Jeronimus Cornelisz, apothecary, necromancer, poisoner, sails for the South Seas in 1628 because Amsterdam has gotten too hot for him. But the good ship Batavia of the Dutch East Indies Co. founders off the Australian coast. Pending rescue efforts, Cornelisz unleashes a 40-day reign of terror, reminiscent of William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.”

Based on a true incident, “The Company” follows his capture and execution for his dark doings. Those who enjoy delving into the murk of a psychopath should enjoy this. But don’t we get enough of it by driving the freeways?

Sally Harrington, in Laura Van Wormer’s “Trouble Becomes Her,” is 30, unmarried, with three failed relationships behind her, a successful relationship with her dog, Scotty (who is not a Scottie) and a promising job with DBS News in New York. But Sally is also a star witness-to-be in an upcoming Hollywood trial that media have dubbed “the Mafia Boss Murder,” and she attracts turmoil as flypaper attracts flies.

Her acquaintance with crime families is crucial to a forthcoming documentary series due to air during sweeps week. It will be about the marriage of Rocky Presario’s sister to Joe Arlenetta; about Joe’s son, Nicky, killing the wife of Rocky’s son Frank (he wanted to get Frank but missed); about Frank turning state’s evidence and putting Joe in jail, where he dies; and about Rocky’s grandson resurfacing years later under the name of Jonathan Small, head of a West Coast movie studio, who is now on trial for shooting his cousin Nicky. Got it?

Well, it’s not over, because Sally gets reacquainted with an enticing but mercurial actress, Lilliana Martin--Rocky’s granddaughter and the sister of the Jonathan who offed Nicky--who feeds Sally rich visuals for the series to come. And the upcoming trial makes Sally a target for the Arlenettas, who have hired thugs to keep her from testifying. If you’re lost, do not worry. So is Sally; so for a while are the NYPD and the FBI; so are the people at DBS News, cringing under a shower of surprises; and so may be readers befuddled by an alphabet soup of names, false names and false trails. But Van Wormer has churned out a charming tale, as semi-coherent and fast-moving as her heroine, perfect for reading on an airplane or, more likely these days, while waiting for one.

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Eugen Weber is a contributing writer to Book Review.