Ninety-two-year-old Britta Stein was charged with spray painting the restaurant of Ole Henryks once he was slated to be honored as a hero during WWII.

Britta said he was not a hero...he was a Nazi collaborator.

Britta needs an attorney, and Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggert team up to defend her.

DEFENDING BRITTA STEIN takes the reader to Denmark during the war with detailed information of the situation the citizens were under during the Nazi occupation.

Very interesting to learn how Denmark dealt with this part of history.

The book goes back and forth in time as Britta tells the story of her life during the occupation and back to today as she prepares for her trial with Catherine, Liam, and her granddaughter, Emma.

Britta also wants her story told so her granddaughter finally knows her family history which has been kept from Emma.

Britta is definitely a feisty, enjoyable character. Between her and Mr. Balson's impeccable research, DEFENDING BRITTA STEIN is another winner for him.

Any fan of Mr. Balson will not want to miss his newest.

The way he has Britta telling her story, and how he ties the present-day situation into the past makes the book difficult to put down.

His talent definitely shines through in DEFENDING BRITTA STEIN. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you like historical fiction because you learn from it, then DEFENDING BRITTA STEIN is for you. The story within a story is more facts than fiction, even down to the names of the major players in Denmark’s dealings with the Nazis. Go to the back of the book before you even begin it, and read Ronald Balson’s "Acknowledgments" for his explanation.

This story is, apparently, the sixth in a series about fictional lawyer Catherine Lockhart, although I have not read the other five. Now I will.

Catherine is defending a 92-year-old woman, Britta Stein, who is accused of and admits to writing defamatory words on the walls of a bar/restaurant about its 95-year-old owner, Ole. These words accuse him of being a Nazi collaborator and traitor just when he is about to receive an award for being a war hero. But a legal defense of defamation is truth. So Catherine defends Britta by attempting to prove that the words are true.

Within this story is the story that Britta tells Catherine about the Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II. Both Britta and Ole lived there. Britta was Jewish; Ole assisted the Nazis, as did a minority of Denmark residents. Although Catherine, Britta, and Ole are fictional characters, Denmark’s story of majority heroism is true.

Once Britta's story is told and Catherine defends her case to a jury, maintaining that Britta's accusations are true, DEFENDING BRITTA STEIN gets fun to read. I loved the courtroom drama.

I really did enjoy this book because I learned from it and because of the final courtroom scenes. But I had to ignore that a 92-year-old woman could not supply such a detailed story of her and her family's experiences 80 years ago. While it is possible that much of it stuck in her memory, not all of it could have. But that's OK; you can easily ignore it like I did. You'll be glad to and you'll be rooting for Britta.