Up Country by Nelson DeMille

Up Country by Nelson DeMille (2002) – Paul Brenner has been shoved into retirement from the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (C.I.D.) after the case that formed DeMille’s earlier book, The General’s Daughter. Drifting in his life Brenner is called to a meeting at the Wall, the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, on which are carved the names of the 58,000 Americans who died during the war.

His former commander, Colonel Karl Hellmann, calls upon him to undertake a mission to Vietnam. It has been 30 years since Brenner was sent to Vietnam in 1968 as an infantryman with the 1^st Calvary Division. Four years later he had served a second tour of duty in Vietnam. During his first tour Brenner had been caught up in the battles of the Tet Offensive.

Hellmann wants Brenner to investigate an incident set out in a letter a North Vietnamese soldier had sent to his brother. The letter writer recounted witnessing in Hue, during the Tet Offensive, an American Army captain murder an American Lieutenant. Hellmann wants Brenner to track down the witness and interview him about the event and see if he can identify the Captain. A reluctant Brenner decides to return to the land which has defined his adult life.

Brenner leaves behind a developing relationship with his former CID partner, Cynthia Sunhill.

On his arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, Brenner finds that Colonel Mang, ostensibly of the Vietnamese Immigration Police, has doubts about Brenner’s claim that he is a veteran returning to his battlefields.

In Ho Chi Minh City Brenner finds a frantic culture embracing Western materialism while still governed by the Communist Party.

While there Brenner acquires an aide and traveling companion, the beautiful Susan Weber.

Trying to maintain his cover story Brenner and Weber leave Ho Chi Minh City. Brenner finds himself drawn into a relationship with Weber who is almost 20 years younger. After a life of short term relationships Brenner falls hard for her.

Brenner and Weber go to the A Shau Valley and the plateau on which the Khe Sanh camp was located and Quang Tri. In each location Brenner re-lives his battle experiences. In my next post on Friday I will discuss DeMille’s exploration of war.

Gradually Weber becomes a true partner in the investigation. She is clever and far better at dealing with the Vietnamese people. Brenner comes to rely on her.

As he pursues the investigation Brenner finds he has been misled by his superiors in Washington. Further complicating the investigation are international diplomatic and business intrigues that will be affected by the results of the search.

Brenner is a dangerous investigator as he is determined to seek out the truth no matter the consequences. The journey of the present equally takes Brenner deep into his past.

The book at 702 pages is a grand historical saga wrapped around an excellent mystery.

I have not found DeMille a reliable read. On this war which was also the author’s war (he was an Army Lieutenant in Vietnam) I found DeMille brilliant. DeMille may not be Brenner but the character he created is alive on the pages.

It was a book where I was drawn forward both wanting to find out what was going to happen next in the story and to learn more about Brenner. There comes a moment for me at the end of a very good book when I pause and say that was special. I had that moment this afternoon. (Dec. 27/12)

Christmas Time in Saskatchewan

Photo by Larry Sorensen

Christmas time in rural Saskatchewan always starts with the weather. We know it will be cold with snow. This year we are in the midst of a deep freeze with about 60 cm (2 feet) of snow in the yard.

When I left for the office this morning it was -31C. When I departed for home this afternoon it was up to -22C but the weatherman assured us, and I agree, it felt like -29C.

There was a creak to the opening of the van door that told my older son, Jonathan, that it was very cold!

While cold the hoar frost on the trees is beautiful. The photo with this post was taken in Melfort four days ago.

My younger son, Michael, came by the office later today with the last presents to be wrapped and they are all under the tree.

The Canadian Armed Forces have the furthest north base in the world at Alert on Ellsmere Island and each Christmas they advise us when Santa has left the North Pole. Alert is about 3662 km or 2276 miles north of Melfort.

To accompany Santa across the vast spaces of Canada he will be accompanied by Canadian fighter jets. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has the story at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2012/12/21/pol-santa-rcaf-pilot-flight.html.

In Melfort tonight Sharon, Jonathan, Michael and I will be going to midnight Mass and opening one or maybe more presents depending on the negotiations. With two lawyers in the family and a third in law school there are ample negotiators.

Merry Christmas to all!

 

 

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

50. – 460.) The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly – A master of crime fiction brings together his lawyer character, Mickey Haller, with his detective character, Harry Bosch. Haller is recovering from rehab for prescription drug addiction when friend and colleague, Jerry Vincent, is murdered. He has named Haller as his successor and he inherits a franchise case, the defence of movie mogul, Walter Elliott, to double murder charges (wife and lover). Bosch is designated to investigate Vincent’s murder. The story focuses on Haller’s defence. Bosch’s investigation weaves around the defence. Haller learns Vincent had a “magic bullet” – evidence or a theory that will devastate the prosecution. Haller finds the bullet. Connelly gives enough evidence and confirmation when Haller has found it but I did not figure out the bullet. While interesting the story is slower moving than most Connelly mysteries. As the trial is about to begin the story takes off as twists starting occurring that I never saw coming. The trial provides a vivid demonstration of how to effectively present demonstrative expert evidence. The twists continue through to the end of the book. As usual Connelly works in some personal history that keeps me hooked on the characters. If the first 2/3 of the book had been as good as the final 1/3 it would have been a great book. (I learned abit of police jargon – the brass verdict is the street solution to solving/avenging a murder.) Hardcover as always. (Dec. 6/08)

 

Petrona is Gone

The lovely image from the top of Maxine's blog, Petrona

I have given eulogies, written reflections, presided at prayer services, prepared obituaries and expressed my sympathy in letters. Each time it was for someone I knew physically. Tonight I think about a virtual friend, Maxine Clarke, sadly gone.

I wish I could have met her but do not regret not having spent time in her physical presence. She was a friend from the internet. The web has provided new opportunities to make friends around the world.

As I ventured into this new world I soon encountered Maxine. Her formidable knowledge of crime fiction was a touch intimidating for the depth and breadth of her reading was striking.

She was generous in acknowledging fellow bloggers. When she read and reviewed the books of Gail Bowen and Anthony Bidulka from Saskatchewan she always included a reference to my blog and kindly acknowledged she was reading them because of me.

My most direct contact and enduring memories of Maxine come from her comments on my blog. After coming to understand her great learning of crime fiction it was with pride I would see a comment from Maxine on one of my posts.

Many comments are quite general in nature. Maxine was never perfunctory. She had considered the post and reached a conclusion and expressed her opinion clearly. I looked forward to Maxine’s comments.

Her last comment on my blog on Taken by Robert Crais reflected her style:

I agree with your views on this book, Bill. It is certainly a page-turner but there is little character or charm that characterises some of the Elvis books. I thought it went off a bit once Joe went out into the desert. Somewhat of a book for those in love with weapons!

Her knowledge of the genre is readily apparent in her comment to a post I wrote about the first twenty years of Harry Bosch:

This is a great post, Bill. It is fascinating to read your views on the evolution of Bosch. I think this series did go through a bit of a "low" a few years ago, around the time of "Void Moon". It was still pretty good, but not quite up to its own standard. I think that at that time, Connelly was trying to make Bosch a more rounded man via his romances, but those have failed and I think his solution of the daughter as a main character works really well. I know quite a few men who are pretty tough in their professional lives but change completely where their children are concerned.

I agree with you about Bosch as the classic "driven" detective. As Margot has mentioned, in the earlier books (immediately after The Black Echo but before he broke off with The Poet) I think that Bosch found out, or tried to, about his parents. The father theme came out much later also, in The Lincoln Lawyer. As a result of that experience, he became even more alone and isolated professionally, locked into his long-running feud with Irvin Irving. I think your point about Bosch now playing the bureaucracy, instead of simply head-butting with it, is a very astute one. I hadn't picked that up but it rings true.

In crime fiction there is usually some element that I find lets a book down. Usually it is the resolution of the crime plot, which is often forced and unconvincing. Another common failing is the "dramatic ending" with shootouts, hero/heroine in peril (having not called for back up), etc. Connelly avoids both these pitfalls, I think - he does not usually go for the "over the top" elements. I agree that his villains can be weak as characters but personally I don't like reading too much from the "sick mind of the villain" point of view, so I am glad he does not go in for that. One book where I think Connelly did very well on the balance between horrible crimes and not being gratuitious is The Scarecrow.

Overall, Connelly is my favourite crime fiction author and has been for years. He has not let his readers down with fame, but continues to deliver exciting and "different" books, while, as you point out, developing characters very well over a series.

Not many people are mourned round the world. The posts expressing the grief of the crime fiction bloggers span the globe.

I respected Maxine’s knowledge, appreciated her skills with words, admired most of her opinions and am saddened by her death. My virtual world is diminished by her loss.

My sympathy to her husband and family.

The Rule Book by Rob Kitchin

55. - 687.) The Rule Book by Rob Kitchin – The fiction debut of the Irish author grabs the reader in the opening sentence:

"His eyes fixed on the sword and started to travel its length, down from the black handle, over the plain hilt and along the two-inch wide shaft to where it penetrated the young woman’s mouth."

Detective Superintendent Colm McEvoy is assigned to lead the investigation. The case swiftly becomes a nightmare as the killer provides excerpts from “The Rule Book” setting out to commit perfect murders and leaving business cards with the image of a large black bird. Not surprisingly the killer is dubbed the Raven.

Examples of the Rules are:

        1a. Choose a victim at random.

1b. Have no prior interaction with the victim before the kill. They should simply be chosen because they were in the right place at the right time.

1c. Take no account of age, sex, looks or any other characteristic in selection.

        Master rule: Patterns provide psychological purchase. Avoid 
        patterns.

The killer makes clear his intention to murder a person a day for the next 6 days in Dublin. Having left virtually no forensic evidence, for the area of the killing has been carefully cleaned, the police face a daunting investigation.

When another murder takes place the next day with equal precision and skill the police are left desperately scrambling to find the murderer.

Within the department McEvoy’s superior, Tony Bishop, is blustering about worried about the image of the police, especially himself, as they struggle to catch the killer amidst a rapidly growing media frenzy.

Can there be a perfect serial killer? The Raven is wickedly clever and knows how smart he is with “The Rule Book”.

McEvoy is coping with the recent death of his wife, Maggie, from cancer. Their 12 year old daughter, Gemma, is providing greater support to her father than he can muster for her.

Personally he is valiantly attempting to quit smoking. McEvoy is finding it difficult to be satisfied with his fake cigarette under the pressure of an investigation drawing media from around the world.

The book is not for the squeamish. While Kitchin does not dwell on the gore he equally does not shy away from describing torture and murder. I found the violence graphic while not dominating the plot.

I did grow weary of the constant descriptions of how tired McEvoy is during the investigation. I am sure all senior police officers are worn out during a major investigation as they try to balance time spent on the investigation with their home life.

I would have appreciated some more information about the officers working with McEvoy. We learn little about them.

 

Having been in Dublin in September it was interesting to be able to see some of the locales in my mind and make myself an imaginary observer of unfolding scenes.

I was most impressed by the ending. The conclusion will never find its way to a Hollywood movie. I did not see it coming.

It is a good book. I wish it were not so hard to buy in Dublin bookshops. I finally found a used copy. (Dec. 13/12)

Q and A with Gail Bowen on Kaleidoscope

Gail in the Arthur Conan Doyle Room at the Toronto Reference Library

In the spring I wrote a post reviewing Gail Bowen’s new book, Kaleidoscope, which features her sleuth, Joanne Kilbourn Shreeve. I emailed Gail some questions about the book. Tonight I am posting her answers.

1.) I found very interesting the portrayal of Zack in the midst of a trial that is not going well. You set out the experience well. As I understood a past email from yourself you indicated that questions I had asked had some impact on your writing. If I am correct I would appreciate any comments you would like to make on the matter.

I did remember you telling me about the sick feeling a lawyer has when a case suddenly starts to go south. That feeling is, of course, exacerbated when the lawyer believes that his client is not guilty. I hope I communicated something of that in Zack's feelings during the Cronus trial. Incidentally, in the new, new JKS novel (the one after The Gifted), Cronus reappears. He was just too good to lose.

2.) Joanne has drifted away from an active role in politics. Was there a reason for her moving to the political sidelines?

I seem to be giving away a lot about "The Gifted", but by the end of the novel Zack has pretty well decided to run for mayor and Joanne is running his campaign, so I guess Joanne is back in politics. I'm intrigued always by the fact that civic politics, the politics that has the most direct impact on our lives, seems to be of interest only to people who have something to gain from the decisions the mayor and council make.

3.) Did you have some insight a major development would be planned by the City of Regina for the warehouse district when you were writing the book? I wondered if Leland had considered a new football stadium replacing Taylor Field on the edge of North Central.

Football fan that I am, I am opposed to the new stadium. First because we have a serious housing problem here in Regina that is not being addressed and second because the politics around the new stadium have a distinctly fishy odour. As well, this whole idea of tarting up Taylor field for the Grey Cup and then dismantling it seems to me idiotic. That said, there's no stadium in the new novels, but there are some distinctly questionable land deals.

4.) Joanne and her eldest daughter, Mieka, look to becoming more involved in projects together. Is it possible they will ever form a mother-daughter sleuthing team?

The mother-daughter sleuth thing has not yet come to pass, but who knows? Joanne and Mieka are as close as my daughter, Hildy and I are, and it's natural that they might come together to solve a problem.

5.) I am working on a post, maybe even a series of posts, on how rarely fictional sleuths watch T.V. Joanne and family certain watch the news. Do they watch any other T.V.?

They watch what I watch: football and politics. I do watch a lot of football, CFL, NFL, and college, esp. Notre Dame. What a year the Irish have had, and it's not over! And Obama won, so it's been a good year for me tv-wise.

I appreciate Gail’s always candid answers and look forward to the 14^th book in the series.

****

Here are links to my listing of the series and my reviews plus Q and A with Gail: 

 

Bowen, Gail – 2011 Questions and Answers with Gail; 2011 Suggestions for Gail on losing court cases; The author's website is http://www.gailbowen.com/ - Deadly Appearances (2011); Murder at the Mendel (Not reviewed); The Wandering Soul Murders (Not reviewed); A Colder Kind of Death (Not reviewed); A Killing Spring (Not reviewed); Verdict in Blood (Not reviewed); (2000) - Burying Ariel (Second best fiction of 2000); (2002) - The Glass Coffin; (2004) - The Last Good Day; (2007) – The Endless Knot (Second Best Fiction of 2007); (2008) - The Brutal Heart; (2010) - The Nesting Dolls; (2012) - "B" is for Gail Bowen; (2012) - Kaleidoscope; Hardcover

 

What Makes a Lawyer Successful in Court



Sir David Napley

Tonight I am putting up a post on how a distinguished English solicitor advocate, Sir David Napley, was successful in court through a discussion of some of his cases. My examples are drawn from his memoirs. Last Sunday I posted a review of those memoirs, Not Without Prejudice. In his book Napley writes in an informative and entertaining way about 50 years in the law.

One of his more prominent cases was the defence of an art gallery against a charge that some drawings of John Lennon portraying sexual acts involving himself and Yoko Ono it displayed were “exhibiting to public view indecent articles, namely prints”. One of Napley’s first steps was, having read the statute, to force an amendment of the charge to add “to the annoyance of passengers”. By requiring the addition he made the prosecution more difficult as the Crown would have to prove not only indecency but annoyance. At the trial Napley, having done extensive research, was able to show that a display of Picasso prints also portraying oral sex had gone unprosecuted shortly before the Lennon exhibition. He also showed the number of annoyed visitors to the gallery, was minimal and why they were annoyed questionable. In the end, the judge followed a long standing judicial practice of avoiding a hard decision. Instead of wading into the murky waters of indecency and annoyance the judge dismissed the charge on technical grounds that the gallery was not a public place and the visitors were not “passengers”.

Napley represented a structural engineer charged with manslaughter over the failure of brakes on a roller coaster, the Big Dipper, which resulted in 5 deaths. He set up a successful trial defence by carefully establishing that the engineer was only tasked to deal with the overall structural integrity of the ride and had nothing to with the car that malfunctioned. The barrister at trial needed to only put forth the evidence and arguments already prepared. Despite oppressive public anger the engineer was found not guilty.

In probably his most famous case Napley orchestrated the defence of former British Liberal leader, Jeremy Thorpe, against charges of conspiring to murder Norman Scott. It was alleged by Scott that he had a homosexual relationship with Thorpe. The case drew vast media attention in the late 1970’s. Napley set up cross-examinations of the Crown witnesses that were decisive at trial. Few books and fewer television shows or movies show the enormous amount of work to prepare a cross-examination in a major case.

Napley sets out the principle:

As I have repeatedly stressed, cross-examination is not based upon some magical formula, depending, as the films and television portray, upon the histrionic abilities of the advocate. There can be no effective cross-examination unless the advocate is supplied with hard, solid facts which the witness cannot refute. Armed with those, there is, of course, some skill in the way they are employed and the point at which they are revealed, but without them nothing is to be achieved.

Napley, after assembling a 20 year history involving Scott, then turned to Crown witness statements:

However much assistance one might receive in the preparation of a case, there is certain work, which the advocate alone, whether a barrister or a solicitor, can do. Thus I spent day after day sitting with the statements of the prosecution witnesses, marking on them the passages about which it would be necessary to cross-examine, cross-referencing the documents or evidence which might be put to the Crown witnesses, and determining the best approach in each instance.

You must do a lot of the work yourself so you are fully familiar with the statements, not only with the analysis of them. You cannot be prepared to deal with the unexpected answers or subtle changes from earlier statements in the evidence given by witnesses at trial without putting in the long hours of review.

Not every client will be found not guilty. In many cases a counsel can only do his best to get a fair sentence for the accused. In the 1970’s Napley represented Ian Ball who almost kidnapped Princess Anne on her way home from the movies. To my surprise her security was limited to a single police officer. The botched kidnapping ended up with 4 people wounded. Napley shrewdly dispensed with a preliminary inquiry and concentrated on gathering psychiatric evidence establishing his client was schizophrenic. Ball pled guilty, with the court’s approval, to certain charges and was detained under The Mental Health Act.

Napley also proved a keen observer at the inquest into the death, while imprisoned, of Steve Biko in South Africa. Biko was beaten in custody, probably because he would not inform on associates, and his interrogators lost patience with him. Napley recounts the unconvincing testimony of guards and doctors. His blunt observations confirm a massive cover-up by the authorities which was awkwardly managed.

As the above cases show Napley carefully considered the wording of criminal charges, established the limits of a client’s responsibility, put in the many hours needed to prepare cross-examinations and realistically evaluated the strength of a client’s position. Of all his talents the focus he brought to each case and the willingness to spend all the time required by the case served his clients well and made him a great solicitor advocate.

(The expansion of law firms is demonstrated by Napley’s law firm, Kingsley and Napley. They started with 2 lawyers in 1937. There are now approximately 150 lawyers in the firm.)

Not Without Prejudice by Sir David Napley

54. – 686.) Not Without Prejudice by Sir David Napley – While I have read numerous biographies and autobiographies of English barristers I had not read any about solicitors. Napley was a prominent English solicitor advocate.

In this post I will discuss his life. In my next post on Tuesday I will review some of his cases showing the skills that made him a very successful solicitor. For readers who do not know the distinction between a barrister and a solicitor you look to the type of law being practiced. Barristers conduct court proceedings. Their practices are limited to appearing in court. Solicitors prepare cases to go to court, appear at lower levels of court and handle all of the non-court legal work required by clients. While you are either a barrister or solicitor in Great Britain all Canadian lawyers are both barristers and solicitors. My practice involves both appearing in courts and taking care of non-court matters for clients.

Napley wrote the book when he was 66. It covers his first 50 years in the legal profession. He started his articles at the age of 16 in 1932. Napley was from a generation in which you could become a lawyer without attending a university law school. His articles took him 5 years. In the mid-1970’s when I articled in Saskatchewan after completing law school articles were for a year.

He began in an era where office machines were limited to the typewriter and adding machine. Carbon copies were the primary method of copying letters and documents. I just realized that when I started working in a law office in 1975 carbon copies were still the standard means of making a copy. In Napley’s earliest days, to ensure copies were of the original document there would, in addition to the carbon copy, be another copy made, often illegible, with wet carbon material in large bound copy books.

As a young solicitor wanting experience with court cases he took on legal aid cases. Then, as now, lawyers were poorly paid for such representation but it was a means of getting known in the courts.

 

World War II interrupted his legal career. After spending time in India he was invalided out of the army early in 1945. It proved an advantage as he was able to re-establish his career before most lawyers were released from military service. While the shortage of lawyers gave him opportunity Napley possessed a key trait for achieving success in the profession. He was willing to work all day and well into the night.

After starting the process of becoming a barrister he turned away and stayed a solicitor. A barrister he trusted assessed his personality and prospects and advised Napley remain a solicitor. At that time prospects for a good living were better for solicitors than barristers. While he said he had “no real regrets” I think he wished he would have become a barrister. It was clear he found it difficult turning over to barristers the cases he had so carefully prepared as a solicitor. Napley was a strong advocate of eliminating the distinction between barristers and solicitors.

 

After the war he had a wide ranging practice. In addition to criminal work he did:

Civil actions in the High Court and County Courts, commercial work, matrimonial work and, of course, conveyancing.

It is the type of general practice with which I am most familiar as it parallels my practice. Napley, as I have, found that type of practice demanding but always interesting.

He sought to expand his conveyancing practice by writing a book on an area lacking legal texts - the remuneration of auctioneers and estate agents. While gaining him clients dealing with remuneration issues it did not gain him conveyancing clients as auctioneers and agents thought he would not want to be bothered with such trivial matters as conveyancing!

In the book he focuses on the cases – mainly criminal – which brought him fame. I doubt many would buy a book concentrating on a solicitor’s most interesting conveyancing files.

Napley was a fearless solicitor advocate. He pursued cases which made the Establishment uncomfortable. He fought for clients upon whom it was clear the police had planted weapons.

His life was a whirlwind. He unsuccessfully sought to be elected to Parliament. He spoke often at events, frequently attended formal suppers, wrote articles and appeared on television. While not conventionally telegenic he was one of the first English lawyers to appear often on television programs.

Napley was also concerned with bettering the law. He participated in law reform. He wrote about the law.

He willingly spent time to improve and serve his profession. His devotion to solicitors is best  shown by becoming the Law Society President for a year even though it meant he would have no income for that year. Not many in our current era would give up their income for a year to work for their fellow lawyers.

Napley had a happy marriage and two daughters. His children did feel he spent too much of his time on the law.

He is a good writer not afraid to express his opinion on laws, clients, fellow lawyers, judges, politicians, administrators and society. Napley has a forthright opinion on many subjects. Anyone wanting to learn more about solicitors from the 1930’s to the 1980’s in England would get valuable insight into the profession from reading Not Without Prejudice.