Book Review: Not Guilty

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Not Guilty     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Patricia MacDonald
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Pocket, April 2002, $24.00, 400 pp.

Keely is happily married to Richard Bennett and living in Ann Arbor with him and their nine-year-old son Dylan. The only problem is Mark’s crippling migraines, which come with increasing frequency and cause Kelly and Dylan to remain absolutely silent when he’s in the throes of one. One day, when Keely comes home from work, she sees Mark dead, the victim of suicide and her son hiding in the closet.

Four years later, she is happily married to Mark Weaver and has a one-year-old daughter by him. Mark and Richard were best of friends in high school and from the moment he saw Keely at the funeral, he claimed to have known she was the one for him. History repeats itself when Keely comes home from shopping to find Mark dead in the pool, his wet daughter at the side of the pool. At first the police treat it like an accidental death but an ambitious District Attorney, who once was Mark’s lover, tries to blame Dylan for his death. As a result of her actions a tragedy occurs and Keely goes to extraordinary lengths to exonerate her son and flush out the real killer.

Patricia MacDonald is the mistress of suspense, an author who writes such an exciting tale that readers immediately become interested in the story line. NOT GUILTY stars a strong and dynamic heroine but the character that steals the spotlight is Dylan, a fourteen old teenager who has known much tragedy in his life but goes on fighting even though the odds are against him.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner