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Review: Guilt by Association (Marcia Clark)

Title: Guilt by Association
Author: Marcia Clark
Genre: Adult mystery
Pages: 368
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Challenges: Suspense and Mystery
FTC Disclosure: I bought this on my iPad
Summary (from Amazon): Los Angeles DA Rachel Knight is a tenacious, wise-cracking, and fiercely intelligent prosecutor in the city's most elite division. When her colleague, Jake, is found dead at a grisly crime scene, Rachel is shaken to the core. She must take over his toughest case: the assault of a young woman from a prominent family. But she can't stop herself from digging deeper into Jake's death, a decision that exposes a world of power and violence and will have her risking her reputation--and her life--to find the truth.


Review: I am really enjoying reading all these mystery books; it's a genre I enjoy but haven't read enough of in the past few years. So, thank you to Book City's Suspense and Mystery Challenge! I was interested to read this one given that the author is Marcia Clark of OJ Simpson trial fame and I am glad that I did.

Rachel Knight is a good main character, she is smart, feisty, and competent without being arrogant or perfect. She is realistic (though I think she drinks too much) and believable, which is so important to me as a reader. I also liked the rest of Rachel's friends: the cops, the other DAs and even the supporting cast that are in there because of the crimes. They are people that you can imagine meeting in life and that makes the story work well.

The plot itself is an interesting one. Like many mysteries there are two stories going on and I figured from the start they would be connected. Story one begins when Rachel's friend and colleague, Jake, is found murdered in a seedy pay-by-the-hour motel. Story two is solving a rape case. What I liked about these two is that although they are connected, it isn't a huge overlap that seems too good to be true. Through the Jake story we get to see Rachel's more personal and human side and that's a nice touch; she isn't just a DA out for the win. Having her friends involved in the work also allows the reader to see the "real" or human side of the characters as well.


Geography Connection:

(photo credit for right photo)

Click to see my updated Google Map. Another crime novel set in Los Angeles! This time it totally makes sense since the author is Marcia Clark, the DA from the O.J. Simpson trial back in the 1990s.

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