Illicit sex is the catalyst in all the Texas murder trials recounted in Sex, Murder, and the Unwritten Law. Bill Neal explores the imaginative machinations of defense lawyers who extricated obviously guilty clients when there appeared no legal basis upon which to peg a defense. The courtroom triumphs and underlying strategies detailed in this book are remarkable and entertaining.

As a practicing criminal lawyer, Bill Neal spent more than four decades frequenting county courthouses in West Texas and hearing tales of sensational crimes and celebrated trials of bygone years. Shortly before his retirement from active law practice, Neal decided to resurrect these old tales of frontier justice--and injustice--through research in the basements and backshops of courthouses and country weeklies, family histories, and interviews with oldtimers. His multiple award-winning books are the results of his efforts. He lives in Abilene, Texas, with his wife, Gayla.