The Undertaker's Widow

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Summary: A legal thriller with lots of ethical choices involved!
Review: Margolin definitely has another bestseller here with all the twists in the plot. The situation is a judge faced with some of the most difficult choices in his life at one of the times in his life when his marriage is also in danger of failing. Some of the plot elements are evident to the reader (like the fact that someone is being set up as a "patsy") but the story itself grips the reader so hard that it's hard to put it down until you've read the conclusion. The characters are portrayed realistically--the reader feels empathy for the judge as well as Senator Crease, the undertaker's widow. Judge Quinn has to decide whether to live by Lincoln's credo which he has hanging on the walls of his chamber or to try to save his reputation and his position using any means necessary. Margolin is Grisham without the political commentary and with a lot of pathos.

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Summary: I enjoyed this book
Review: This book keeps you second-guessing on who the suspect was till the end.

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Summary: LAWYERS & JUDGES--WHAT TANGLED WEBS WE WEAVE!!!!
Review: Wham, right off the bat, Lamar Hoyt is killed. Now to find out who did him in. His widow is Ellen Crease, she is arrested and has a hearing. Did she kill him? Judge Richard Quinn gets involved as he hears the case. Benjamin Gage is running against Ellen Crease for Senator, did he hire someone to kill Hoyt and Crease or to kill Hoyt and cause Crease to take the blame? Judge Richard does a no-no with Andrea Chapman or is she Andrea Chapman? The book takes many twist and turns as the police try to find the killer. It will hold your attention. Some of the trial apperances drag on a little long. But wait, the ending will surprise you, it did me, but then I am not as swift on the pick up as some of the other reviewers. I have read several Margolin book and I like this one and "The Burning Man" better than any of the others, so far. If you want a book that will hold your attention, with lots of twists and a surprise ending, I think you will like this.

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Summary: Margolin not cashing in or selling out...but what?
Review: Yes, I too have read all of Phillip Margolin's books, starting with his best, Gone But Not Forgotten, and then going backwards to his first effort. Maturity is a great attribute in a writer, and Mr. Margolin has certainly matured, but why has he written this book? As an avid reader of Margolin firmly over Grisham and forsaking all others, I, like one of his characters, am searching for the answer to the real mystery: why write this book? This novel is confusing, and I don't mean complicated. Characters are absentmindedly tossed to and fro like deck chairs on the Titanic. The plot is interesting enough, but it borrows a major part of the Firm that any fiction reader will see coming far before the character sees it. (If poor Quinn had read The Firm, he would have cancelled the trip to St. Jerome!) I feel as pained as Judge Quinn putting old Gideon in jail for two years. I love Phillip Margolin's books, and I'll buy the next one. But I have to be honest and say that the only joy I got out of this book was in saying that Phillip Margolin is the ONLY author I've read the entire works of, with the exception of William Shakespeare. (And they made me do that in the English department to get my college diploma in English). The usage of ramshackle twice in 50 pages makes it looked like the author was rushed by his editor. I think that's the real mystery in The Undertaker's Widow: a book had to be written. Case solved. Back to work!