Defensive Wounds: A Novel of Suspense by Lisa Black (William Morrow; $24.99; 352 pages)
“Trying to find a smear of the dark red on the burgundy-patterned carpet made needles and haystacks seem like a bar bet.”
In this fourth time around in Cleveland, Ohio, author Lisa Black presents a convoluted present day mystery that is solved with one part forensics and one part feelings. Author Black does an excellent job of setting up the story line and expanding her cast of characters. While forensic scientist Theresa Mac Clean and her cop cousin Frank are easily recognizable from the prior novel in this series, Trail of Blood, their emotions and personal opinions are considerably more pronounced. Ms. Black uses a plotline that consists of a series of seemingly unconnected murders to thoroughly explore the meaning of family loyalty. Throughout the tale, each of the main characters – Theresa, Frank, and Theresa’s daughter Rachel – must choose which side they are on. For Rachel the choice revolves around her feelings for a young man with whom she works at Cleveland’s Ritz-Carlton hotel. Theresa has to balance her relationship with Rachel and her daughter’s safety with the demands of her job in the medical examiner’s office.
Aggressive defense attorneys are not usually mourned at their passing by local law enforcement officers and forensics specialists. These public servants often face seemingly excessive interrogation on the stand as expert witnesses during trial proceedings in criminal matters. When glamorous defense attorney Marie Corrigan is found trussed up and dead in the Presidential Suite at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, not a single tear is shed or kind word uttered by the team summoned to the crime scene. Ms. Corrigan’s reputation for winning acquittal verdicts for her questionable clients nearly matched her beauty and enviable figure. “Ding dong the witch is dead,” was the vocal intoned by Leo DeCiccio in the trace evidence lab as the autopsy of Corrigan’s body began.
What better way to create a readily available pool of murder victims than to have them attend a seminar at said hotel that features the development of skills for achieving litigation success? There is none better as far as this reviewer is concerned. As each subsequent victim is discovered, the possibilities for a single murderer seem difficult to grasp, yet the methodology of killing is strikingly similar. The past and present relationships of the murder victims and the investigators are not obvious. Theresa and Frank must devote hours of sleuthing to fit the pieces together for the solution of the crimes.
Ms. Black’s wicked sense of humor provides several amusing sidebars for the reader. Among the seminar lessons are the following: “How to Make Not-Guilty Happen” and “Criminal Defense in a Down Economy.” She gives her characters clever phrases and sets up the opportunities for them, such as,
“Two bodies piled up, and this woman knew both of them. She may be able to connect the dots for us. How much should we worry about people’s feelings? Especially since they’re the same people who are going to say we didn’t solve these murders because we don’t like them?”
The take-away from this mystery novel is that we must all move on in life and it takes a bigger person to do so.
Well recommended.
Ruta Arellano
A review copy was provided by the publisher. Defensive Wounds was released on September 27, 2010; it is also available as a Kindle Edition and Nook Book download.
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