Mich. lawyer pens thriller 'Mark of the White Rabbit'

Nothing can ruin a shoo-in candidate’s chances of becoming Michigan’s next governor quicker than the discovery of a missing court reporter’s cell phone in his back yard and charred remains in his fire pit. Add to that a political rival with governor’s mansion aspirations of his own and the daughter of a former FBI agent who says she has proof showing the real murderer is a diabolical serial killer and you’ve entered the darkly plotted series debut “Mark of the White Rabbit, a Trail of the White Rabbit Thriller” by author Lincoln Cooper.

Tempted for many years to try his hand at writing a novel, Cooper — an experienced trial lawyer, arbitrator, mediator, and once a court-appointed special prosecutor — understood his knowledge and experience would be valuable in creating realistic story lines, provocative characters, and intriguing plot twists critical to a compelling thriller mystery.

“Litigation requires exhaustive research of the applicable law and an intensive investigation of the facts necessary to prevail,” said Cooper. “I apply the same intensity to my research when I am writing.”

Plus, a little nudging from the home front didn’t hurt. His wife’s encouragement started long ago when she reviewed “some of my opening statements and closing arguments I wrote out for trails, and then later when she read some of the articles I wrote for legal and business journals.”

“Mark of the White Rabbit” boasts a double murder, a woman’s blood-splattered car abandoned at a strip mall, charred remains found in a backyard fire pit, a famous trial lawyer accused of murder, and a suspicious stranger watching over it all as the mystery of the white rabbit unfolds.

The ideas for the characters in the book unfolded in many ways. After viewing the Netflix documentary, “The Making of a Murderer,” Cooper “connected with a (retired) FBI agent who claimed to know the real killer (not the accused) of the victim, after which I came up with some thoughts on a theme for the novel. The idea for certain inclinations of the main villain in White Rabbit evolved from the documentary … together with the ensuing discussions with the former agent.”

Cooper’s work life played a significant role as well. “I have had the benefit of an unusually diversified practice and have represented a wide variety of unique and interesting characters in many varied circumstances. This has given me a virtual ‘Encyclopedia Brittanica’ of subject and character material.”

Using locales in Michigan as the setting for the series came naturally for Cooper. It all started during one “college summer [when] I lived in a resort town on the southwest coast of Michigan and worked on a dredger in the Grand River. The experience later lured me to move to Michigan after graduating from law school. Once settled, I began crewing in offshore sailboat races on summer weekends. Years later we slipped our own boat in a marina in that same lakeside city, which served as the conceptualization of Lakeview Village in the book.” Cooper later owned property in northern Michigan and over the years boated around Lake Michigan and many inland lakes in the state. “These experiences, along with my practice as a trial lawyer, impact the book and those to come.”

“Mark of the White Rabbit” is published by Mission Point Press of Traverse City, Michigan, and is available in stores and online. The retail price of the softcover is $16.95. For additional information, visit www.lincolncooper.com.