Boston College Law School Professor R. Michael Cassidy, a nationally recognized expert in criminal law and legal ethics, drew on his knowledge of both academic life and criminal procedure for his debut novel, When the Past Is All Deception (Atmosphere Press, 2024). The legal thriller is factually inspired by the unsolved 1991 murder of a professor in Cambridge. “I served as a prosecutor in Massachusetts when this grisly crime was committed, and I have been haunted by the slaying ever since,” Cassidy told BC Law School Magazine. Cassidy has re-imagined the details of the case and placed the story in a contemporary context. When the Past Is All Deception tells the story of Mark Price, a conservative law professor who is removed from his classroom due to an explosive conflict with his students over issues of political correctness. His problems on campus pose complex challenges for his wife, Susan Price, a partner at a Boston law firm who has been nominated for a seat on the State Supreme Court. The novel unfolds through shifting perspectives: those of the Prices, their two teenage children, and the lead detective assigned to investigate the homicide of one of the Prices. Read more in BC Law Magazine.