All the Dead Yale Men by Craig Nova

Craig Nova often writes about good, but flawed, people, who get in jams with very bad people. This happens through his protagonists' human frailties in situations the reader can imagine, but would rather not get stuck in. All the Dead Yale Men is vintage Nova. I sometimes squirmed in my seat in sympathy for Frank Mackinnnon, the all too human attorney at the center of the novel. The title is misleading, there's very little about Yale, and only two dead men, one from a heart attack. So, it's not a blue blood mystery. The novel is about people juggling parenthood, family conflict, & love. Parenthood is seen from Frank's dual vantage point as the son of a very flawed father, who we meet as an elderly, slippery former CIA agent, and as the parent of daughter Pia, who is coming of age & with rebellion in full bloom. In an effort to protect Pia from a manipulative street conman, Frank gets sideways with some small time Russian crooks, who are ready to blackmail him. This is not a good position for a Boston district attorney. Frank is a reader of Roman philosophers, and quotes from them are juxtaposed against the mess he has created with his more or less good intentions. The story unfolds in Franks voice, and in Nova's usual spare and eloquent prose.  He has written eleven other novels, and I've read and recommend most of them. This one is a good place to start.