The Sporting House Killing: A Gilded Age Legal Thriller is a five-star story told by a trial lawyer, necessarily a master storyteller. Having lavished deserved praise, permit me the same license I once granted the author to critique. The story is not being told in a courtroom, rather communicated from a blank page, a vastly different art. A little dialect goes a long way and too much can be downright scarifying. The dialogue outside the courtroom could be more authentic. If the two student characters were more rounded, then I submit their exchanges would be crisper. Such character development would have the additional benefit of making the final plot twist more natural, more satisfying. The author largely resists the urge to share history and evidentiary rules that do not advance the plot or illuminate a character. Though the prosecutor is not as flat as a Hamilton Burger, he didn't come across like a minister of justice. Finally, the author missed opportunities to use setting to advance the story. However, such points of craft don’t diminish the substance of a story. The author reflects Christ’s love for justice, mercy, Baylor, Waco, the students, and that kind of sincerity wins cases and hopefully sells books because I want to read Catfish’s future trials. ( )