About Colin Nelson

Colin T. Nelson worked for 40 years as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer in Minneapolis. He tried everything from speeding tickets to first degree murder. His writing about the courtroom and the legal system give the reader a "back door" view of what goes on, what's funny, and what's a good story. He has also traveled extensively and includes those locations in his mysteries. Some are set in Southeast Asia, Ecuador,Peru, and South Africa. Readers get a suspenseful tale while learning about new places on the planet. Colin is married, has two adult children, and plays the saxophone in various bands.

Serial Arsonists on “Castle”

For those of you who have been hooked on the TV seriesCastle, you may have caught an episode this month involving a serial arsonist who becomes a murderer also.  The main character, Richard Castle, is a successful writer who probably got bored and decided to investigate real crimes.  I’m glad the writers of the show chose …

Downton Abbey and the Law

In a recent episode of Downton Abbey the family struggled with the “latest crises”—the proper inheritance of the estate.  Matthew Crawley died without a will, which left his estate in the hands of his infant son, George, and father-in-law, the inept Robert.  Remember, last season he not only squandered his inheritance, he also lost his wife’s inheritance!!  Anyway, …

Why Do Judges Wear Robes??

colin.nelson.smallfileIt’s so common to see every judge walk up to the bench with black robes flapping around their legs that we don’t even wonder why they wear those robes.  At least in America the judges wear plain robes unlike England where the judges have colored collars, stripes on the sleeves, furry things around their necks, and funny wigs.…

Nine Year Old Sneaks on Plane–By Himself

In Minneapolis about a week ago, a young boy without a ticket was able to board a plane to Las VegasALONE!colin.nelson.smallfile

His parents thought he’d spent the night at a friend’s house and didn’t discover he was gone until the next morning when the boy showed-up in Las Vegas.  When the father was interviewed, he put …

FLASHOVER — My New Book is Out

I’m  excited to announce that my third book, Flashover will be published on Sept. 1, 2013!Flashover Cover_Layout 1

Like my previous books, this is a suspense crime novel set in Minneapolis.  The main character is a young, female prosecutor named Zehra who is ambitious to become a judge.  She is assigned a case of an alleged arsonist and hopes a …

George Zimmerman–Now What’s Going on in his Trial?

The George Zimmerman trial in Florida where he is accused of Second Degree Murder for killing Trayvon Martin was about to go to the jury.  The lawyers made their closing arguments and the next step would have been the judge reading the jury instructions to the jury.  These are precise definitions of the law in the state of …

George Zimmerman and Self Defense

colin.nelson.smallfileMany of you are following the murder trial of George Zimmerman in a Florida courtroom.  He is accused of shooting and killing Trayvon Martin during a scuffle in a residential area.  Martin was unarmed and Zimmerman was carrying a pistol.  At  first, it appeared to be an open-and-shut case of murder.

The news media has covered this story …