About Me

My photo
Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

"K" is for In the Shadow of the Law by Kermit Roosevelt

For this week's entry for "K" in The Alphabet in Crime Fiction meme hosted by Kerrie Smith at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, I am posting a review.
****
7. - 373.) In the Shadow of the Law by Kermit Roosevelt – Morgan Siler is a prospering mega-law firm in Washington. New associate, Mark Clayton, is overwhelmed with requests from the partners. He is drawn into dealing with a pro bono death penalty appeal that has no chance of success. Scorched earth litigator, Harold Fineman, calls on him to assist in the defence of a class action arising out of a dreadful explosion at a chemical storage plant in rural Texas which killed dozens of people. The firm history is told through the current
managing partner, Peter Morgan, a cool and calculating patrician. An associate, Katja Phillips, floats through the firm. An associate, Walker Elliott, a former Supreme Court clerk illustrates the challenges of those who see the pure principles that guide the law but struggle with judges bending them as they try to achieve a just result. The author manages to make a difficult topic – securitzation of assets – understandable. The pace of the book picks up as Clayton copes with trying to save a death row inmate and with the document review of huge numbers of corporate documents in the class action. I wish the author would follow the firm in a series of novels but it appears to stand alone. Excellent. Hardcover (Jan. 25/07)

****
I connect with the book as a lawyer whose work has also included criminal defence and class actions. I would not want to be on the defence side of the class action described in the book.

6 comments:

  1. Bill - This sounds like a very interesting sort of 'ensemble cast' kind of novel. That can make for a powerful character study. And class action suits like that can really raise the tension in a story. Thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Margot: Thanks for the comment. The author is also a university professor. I hope he will return to writing legal fiction.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have this book, unread. Really glad to hear that you liked it, it will motivate me to move it up in my reading. Great review, Bill.

    ReplyDelete
  4. TracyK: Thanks for the comment. Do you plan reading? I try to balance planning to read books with just picking up a book and reading it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bill, That is a good question, about planning reading. I prefer to read more spontaneously, but this year I had so many challenge commitments that it feels like I cannot deviate too much. However, I buy too many books and some get buried or ignored.

    ReplyDelete
  6. TracyK: Thanks for replying. I do my best not to make reading a form of work to be done.

    ReplyDelete