
Allison W. (
sealady) wrote on 4/15/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
From Publishers Weekly
Further evidence that Lescroart ( Hard Evidence ) can hold his own among legal-thriller writers comes with this taut novel about an abused San Francisco housewife who is arrested for shooting both her seven-year-old son and her physician husband, a control freak. Narrator Dismas Hardy, defense attorney and hero of four previous Lescroart novels, has plenty of suspects and issues to grapple with. First there's his icy, recalcitrant client, Jennifer Witt, who refuses to go with a battered-wife defense; Jennifer's aloof psychiatrist, who may or may not be her lover; some financial shenanigans concerning the victim's business that provide plenty of motive for high-stakes murder. Then there's the problem of Dismas's grandstanding boss, whose flamboyant, hit-or-miss style leaves Dismas constantly scrambling for higher legal ground. Finally, there's Dismas's wife, who resents the time her husband spends on the case but who insists on striking up a friendship with the accused without telling her husband. The story gets off to a slow start, and sometimes Lescroart belabors the obvious. He also comes close to telegraphing the solution to the mystery, and much of his writing about the characters' personal lives is hamfisted. Despite these flaws, however, an intricate story and satisfying courtroom scenes carry the day. Fans of the genre should find the second half of the book, which covers the trial, especially engaging." Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Courtroom drama at its best. This one looks like a slam dunk for the prosecution, even to the defense. The truth unwinds by increments and "who done it" is not an easy find/guess for anyone, including the reader.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
An interesting turn of events within the Dismas Hardy novel. Dismas is representing a woman who he believes is guilty. But is she really? Suspenseful and worth reading multiple times.