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Moment of Truth begins with what appears to be an open-and-shut
case. Jack Newlin, a wealthy attorney with one of the most
influential law firms in Philadelphia, killed his wife in
a moment of drunken passion, stabbing her repeatedly when
she announced she wanted a divorce. Or at least that is what
he is claiming to the police.
The fact is, Jack is framing himself because he fears his
wife's murder was his daughter's crime of passion. Sixteen-year-old
Paige Newlin is a successful model whose relationship with
her manager-mother had been famously rocky. To make sure that
he's convicted, Jack hires rookie lawyer Mary DiNunzio to
defend him. But Mary doesn't buy Jack's story, and neither
does the senior detective on the case. In a fascinating turn
on the usual courtroom tale, then, Jack struggles to maintain
his false story of guilt while his lawyer and the police struggle
to prove him innocent. Meanwhile, Mary wrestles with both
her uncertainty as a lawyer and with her attraction for her
client.
Lisa Scottoline, often identified as the "female John Grisham,"
has led the pack of female authors in the legal thriller genre,
winning an Edgar for her second novel, Final Appeal. Moment
of Truth does have moments that don't, in fact, ring true.
Why is Jack Newlin so quick to forgive his daughter when he
thinks she's killed her own mother? And if he's so concerned
with her welfare, why did he absent himself from her upbringing?
But it's nonetheless interesting for its innovative plot conceit
and its examination of high-profile murder trials. If one
is able to overlook the problems with Newlin's motivation,
the story Scottoline weaves is a compelling one, and her heroine,
Mary, is an enjoyable, self-doubting twist on the super-lawyer
at the center of most legal thrillers. --Patrick O'Kelley
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