Review: The Suspect

Truth is a many-faceted gem. A person innocent of a crime naively believes telling the police the truth will set him free. Police disdain those who “lawyer up” as guilty. A police interrogation is a legal matter, for which an attorney’s expertise is essential to meet the formidable skills of a law enforcement interrogator. Truth and guilt are irrelevant.

In San Francisco, Dr. Caryn Dryden - smart, savvy, a polymer chemist and inventor of a new hip replacement socket - is apparently not beloved by all as she powers her way through life. When she is found naked and dead in her hot tub at home, suspicion falls immediately on her husband, who stands to inherit her millions. Nature writer Stuart Gorman loved and hated his wife. He has spent the crucial hours of Caryn’s murder alone, miles away at his private Echo Lake cabin, trying to cool off from Caryn’s demand for a divorce. Others in Caryn Dryden’s sphere of influence have motive to kill her, but Detective Devin Juhle locks in on Gorman. Experience shows him spouses make the most likely suspects.

Attorney Gina Roake has spent the last three years mourning her fiancé, a high-powered, older attorney, well known in San Francisco. Having all but abandoned the law, she sees in Stuart Gorman the chance of a professional lifetime: the defense of an innocent man. Her heart struggles with professional ethics, as she fights to quickly return to courtroom-battle readiness. Her simple and initial assumption of Stuart’s innocence starts to disintegrate with each facet of “truth” revealed.

John Lescroart (“less-kwah”) creates ordinary characters and makes them extraordinary by how they react and shape their responses to provoking situations. He recreates the blend of mundane and heart-ripping excitement that is criminal defense expertly enough to fool an attorney (this reviewer, who does criminal defense legal research), without too much jargon spoiling the pace of the story. Although this reviewer figured out the killer 200 pages before Roake, the revelation contained an unexpected twist. If you enjoy the books of Richard North Patterson and Philip Margolin, both attorneys and legal fiction authors, Lescroart ranks with them in this outstanding read.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, A. Rolfingsmeier

Book Review: The Suspect