Avery Keene Series by Stacey Abrams

Special Collections & Archives collects books in American literature including many examples from the Detective Fiction genre. Stacey Abrams an author, lawyer and former state representative from Georgia, has also published several works of fiction including two books that fall in the detective and mystery genre, while relating to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Her New York Times bestseller book called While Justice Sleeps was published in 2021. Avery Keene, the main character in the book, is a brilliant young law clerk who is trying to figure her life out. Suddenly, her life turns upside down when she finds out that Justice Winn, who is a member of the Supreme Court, goes into a coma. She also discovers that he was a swing vote on a controversial case, which puts her in a position that she did not expect to be in. 

Abrams followed this book up with another in the series entitled Rogue Justice, which was published in 2023. This time Avery Keene has an encounter at a legal conference with Preston Davies, a young man who is a law clerk to a federal judge in the state of Idaho. Preston believes his boss, Judge Francesca Whitner, was being blackmailed a few days before her death. With that in mind, Preston gives Avery a file, a burner phone, and advises her that there are dangerous people involved and that she will have a target on her back. 

The Kent State Library has a large collection of mystery and detective fiction and these recently-published books connect the genre to contemporary political situations and realities of today. Abrams writes from the point of view of an author who has been involved in politics in real life. These books not only are legal thrillers, but also include mystery and detective elements–making them exciting reads that are hard to put down.

--Guest curator: Lauryn Carr, 2023-2024 OhioLINK Luminaries Student