In Defense of Good Women

This debut novel shines a light on the dark subject of infanticide when a successful female criminal defense lawyer is ordered to defend a seventeen-year-old minister’s daughter charged with murder in the drowning death of her newborn child.

In Defense of Good Women is the story of Victoria Stephens, a successful, hard-nosed criminal defense attorney appointed by the court to represent a seventeen-year-old minister’s daughter charged with murder in the drowning death of her newborn child. Victoria faces a hostile community, a salivating press, an uncooperative client, but most of all, a nagging intuition that she should not be handling this case. Forced to delve into the psychology of neonaticide as she searches for a defense, Victoria discovers a link between this case and her own past which, once uncovered, leads her beyond the boundaries of not just her profession, but the law.

Author: Marilyn J. Zimmerman

Publication Date: June 10, 2025

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“Zimmerman both entertains and educates as she unfolds the tale of Victoria Stephens, an attorney who is defending a teenage girl accused of neonaticide and who faces an array of challenges—including her own haunting past. A powerful exploration of justice, empathy, and the blurred lines between guilt and innocence.”—Jude Berman, author of The Vow

“Zimmerman weaves her gripping plot around well-drawn characters and a beautifully evoked coastal community in Michigan, delivering to her readers a convincing case In Defense of Good Women.”—Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of Hard Cider

“Like the novel’s pervading river, one that aptly embodies risk, freedom, and even death, we are deftly swept between deeply contemplative moments in a cozy cottage and tense courtroom dramas where the stakes are nothing less than the salvation of good women. Expertly drawn characters, vivid settings, escalating suspense, and a profoundly relevant topic merge to create a tour de force. I could not put this book down.”—Dorene O’Brien, author of What It Might Feel Like to Hope

“Fiction with a thoughtful point doesn’t always kick you in the gut the way In Defense of Good Women does. A page-turning masterpiece!”—Lori B. Duff, attorney and author of Devil’s Defense and Broken Things

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