In general, legal thrillers of novel length bore me. They’re like sitting through an actual court trial: Sure, they have moments of high drama, but prepare for many lulls within the sea of legalese. As short stories, however, that’s another, um, story: Their brevity demands a punchiness that keeps a Wapner-like pace.
That makes MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS THE PROSECUTION RESTS: NEW STORIES ABOUT COURTROOMS, CRIMINALS, AND THE LAW a must for crime fans. These 21 stories — only one of which is a reprint, from editor Linda Fairstein — combine for a collection that’s clearly guilty of being utterly readable.
Like the other recent MWA anthologies (terrific one and all), it’s arranged alphabetically by author … with one exception: Out of due respect, the late, great Edward D. Hoch is given the opening-arguments slot with “The Secret Session,” a superior mystery surrounding a cabal of judges, one of whom is dismissed for accepting bribes. He may not be the only one, and bribery may be the least of committed crimes.
Phyllis Cohen’s “Designer Justice” conjures up a well-oiled mouse-trap scenario in which a man accused of shooting and killing a woman at point-blank range gets off. Oh, he totally did it, but his high-priced defender casts enough doubt. However, he’ll wish he were found guilty compared to what awaits.
A parole board member on the way to yet another Podunk hearing accidentally picks up the stranded mother of his subject in Jo Dereske’s “Follow Up,” and Kate Gallison cleverly uses the Salem witch trials as the setting for her “Spectral Evidence.” Joel Goldman affects an unpleasant black slang for the narrator of “Knife Fight,” but it turns out that narrator is smarter than his counsel.
James Grippando delivers one of the more effective gut-punchers — in a book full of them — in “Death, Cheated,” in which his series star Jack Swyteck is called upon to defend his ex-girlfriend mid-trial in an insurance case. She’d been diagnosed with ALS, and thus sold her $3 million life insurance policy in a viatical settlement for half that amount so she could enjoy her final days. But then it’s discovered she’s not diseased after all, and they want her half a million back.
The heroine of “The Flashlight Game” by Diana Hansen-Young has a problem with her father, who thinks he’s some sort of amateur lawyer for having helped her study for the bar. His shenanigans make the story play partly for laughs, even when he gets himself into a heap of trouble, being wrongly accused of murder. Paul Levine also uses parental humor to his advantage — no surprise, given his SOLOMON VS. LORD series — in “Mom Is My Co-Counsel.”
Motherhood figures into “Red Dog,” as well, but Anita Page’s story is sobering. When a young girl’s stepfather goes drunk and threatens to kill her and her mom, he ends up shot to death. Mom decides the best thing to do would be to chop his body up into pieces. That’s not, of course, which becomes all too clear when the girl is put on the stand to testify.
Barbara Parker has a true standout in “A Clerk’s Life,” which is about just that: the long hours put in by a lowly, unappreciated law clerk, belittled by everyone else in the firm. If only they could see how intelligent he truly is. If only they knew what he knew about fellow employees’ private lives. If only that ending didn’t make my jaw drop just a little!
Taking a page from CAPE FEAR, Morley Swingle sets up a solid between a counselor and the recently sprung man he wrongly sent to prison, in “Hard Blows.” It’s one of those tales that hinges entirely on its twist end, and does it well. By contrast, the close of Joseph Wallace’s “Custom Sets” seems like a foregone conclusion, but the story — about an underaged girl forced by her family into taking dirty photos to sell on the Internet, and the guys who pay for them — still holds power.
Speaking of, Fairstein makes the book go out with a bang with her “Going Under,” in which a female rookie anxious for a promotion to detective reluctantly agrees to go undercover to catch a dentist accused of molesting his lady patients while under the influence of painkillers. Sex crimes make for great stories; Fairstein’s built her entire writing career on them.
The names in THE PROSECUTION RESTS may not hold the recognizability factor as the other MWA efforts, but that turns out to matter not. There’s a load of talent here — all yours for around $20 all told, rather than $500 an hour. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS IN THIS SERIES:
• MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS DEATH DO US PART: NEW STORIES ABOUT LOVE, LUST, AND MURDER edited by Harlan Coben
• MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS IN THE SHADOW OF THE MASTER: CLASSIC TALES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE edited by Michael Connelly
• MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS ON A RAVEN’S WING: NEW TALES IN HONOR OF EDGAR ALLAN POE edited by Stuart M. Kaminsky
• MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS THE BLUE RELIGION: NEW STORIES ABOUT COPS, CRIMINALS, AND THE CHASE edited by Michael Connelly
Related posts:
- Mystery Writers of America Presents The Blue Religion: New Stories About Cops, Criminals, and the Chase
- Mystery Writers of America Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories about Love, Lust, and Murder
- Mystery Writers of America Presents On a Raven’s Wing: New Tales in Honor of Edgar Allan Poe
- Mystery Writers of America Presents In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe
- Showcase Presents The House of Mystery: Volume 2
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
You’d like William Lashner a lot.
I read and reviewed this book, as well. I really enjoyed it!
Was all talk and nothing real. When do we return to real crime stories from the perspective of criminals? Tell me how those who enforce the law really know anything about crime? We are now entering an era where winning and losing to move up the scale of prosecuting criminals is starting to take shape. Funny huh, no one wants to talk about all the cases that were wrongfully plead out in a system that honors truth. What a country we have become, Justice is for winners not the truth. See you folks during the next crime wave, because as the money runs out plea bargains end and the guilty will walk free. We could have done so much more and all we invented was plead bargains for self promotion of prosecutors. Too bad we are broke now, because being a Lawyer really means something again and money to prosecute is in short supply. Time for crime to rule the day again, and time for Criminal Attorney’s to dominate the system again. We can’t afford to prosecute anymore so now let’s see how many cases never see a courtroom or a plea bargain because we can’t afford it? So much for CSI and all their high tech baloney that hasn’t changed anything except prove how unjust the Criminal Justice System has been. We could have done more so plea bargain on that when you can’t afford to prosecute and the guilty walk free! Ha, ha ha, losers!