Rating: 4.5⭐
After his fiancée's son is charged with the murder of his long-time on-again, off-again girlfriend, Rusty Sabich, retired judge and former Kindle County, IL defense attorney now in his seventies, is back in the courtroom. Defending Aaron, who is in his early twenties and was living with Bea and Rusty while on probation after serving a short sentence for drug possession, won’t be easy given that Mae was found dead after Aaron stormed off after an argument with her while on a road trip together. Initially reluctant to defend someone who is practically family, not only does Rusty worry about how defending Aaron would affect his relationship with Bea, Aaron’s mother, but complicating matters further is the fact that Mae’s family is well-connected and influential in the legal community and law enforcement, with Mae’s grandfather someone Rusty considers a friend and holds in high regard. Aaron is the only suspect and Mae’s family firmly believes that he killed Mae. The narrative follows Rusty as he leaves no stone unturned fighting to prove Aaron’s innocence and unravel the mystery behind Mae’s murder.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Grover Gardner. This was a lengthy audiobook (a little over 20 hours at 1x speed), but the suspenseful and consistently paced plot and expert narration kept me immersed in the story. Issues such as addiction, racial bias and discrimination, infidelity, and complex family dynamics are deftly woven into the narrative which is shared from Rusty’s first-person perspective The author writes skillfully, with a perfect balance between the legal thriller/ mystery angle and the complicated interpersonal dynamics between Rusty, Aaron, Bea and those close to the case. The courtroom scenes are thoroughly riveting and the mystery is well-crafted with enough red herrings, secrets and twists to keep you guessing.
Overall, I found Scott Turow’s Presumed Guilty to be a gripping legal drama/thriller and I couldn’t recommend it enough for fans of the genre.
This was my first Scott Turow novel and though I haven’t read the preceding books in the author’s Presumed Innocent series (like many others, I loved the Apple TV series based on the first book) I had no problem following the plot as the narrative featured just enough of the relevant backstories/information to make for a well-rounded reading/listening experience. I certainly hope to pick up the other books in this series!
Many thanks to Hachette Audio for the ALC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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