Sunday, March 27, 2011

Book Review: "Guilt by Association"

Marcia Clark is best known for being the lead prosecutor on the O.J. Simpson case, but with the publication of Guilt by Association (Mulholland Books, 2011), she can now add "crime novelist" to her resume.

The book's a bit like reading a "Law & Order" episode (or, if you prefer, insert your favored crime procedural show title there), but as someone who very much enjoys "Law & Order" episodes, there's nothing wrong with that. It's a fast-paced, character-driven romp in which district attorney Rachel Knight, assisted by friends in high places (and low), tries to solve a high-profile rape case while simultaneously working to exonerate a colleague found dead in, shall we say, less-than-desirable circumstances. Naturally she's been explicitly warned to leave the latter case alone, so of course there's a good measure of rule-bending going on through much of the book.

A solid first effort by Clark, which held my interest and offered a handy few hours of escape on a quiet spring Sunday.