Maximum Security : A Crime Novel

Rating:
Summary: great legal thriller
Review: At the request of her partner Harry Madigan, Marty Nickerson agrees to take on the case of Louisa Rawlins, whose husband is presumed dead because he never came home after using his boat. The insurance company does not want to pay out the $1 million dollar claim; instead they ask authorities to investigate. Marty is a bit uncomfortable representing Louisa because her lover Harry was once Louisa's lover.

Certain that there is no evidence to arrest her, Marty agrees that she and Louisa should meet with District Attorney Geraldine Schilling at the client's home. On the day of the meeting, the police arrest Louisa on charges of second-degree murder. A fisherman found Herb Rawlings's body his hands and leg tied together with rope. He had a head injury and later the police find evidence of blood in the bathroom that matches that of Herb. A brass swan faucet, which the authorities think is the murder weapon, is found with Louisa's fingerprints and Herb's blood and hair on it making it seem like the prosecution has an airtight case. Even Marty begins to wonder if her client is innocent.

Rose Connors is brilliant at portraying courtroom scenes yet she humanizes all the characters so that nobody is stereotyped. She also injects humor into the storyline so that the audience becomes further delighted with the characters witty repartee. The accused is a charming refined and gentile woman who engages the sympathy of the audience so that readers hope she is not the killer. MAXIMUM SECURITY is one of the best legal thrillers of the year.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, literate and eminently enjoyable!
Review: Marty Nickerson doesn't want to say no to Harry Madigan, her lover and law partner, so she agrees to defend Harry's old flame in a murder case. Louisa Rawlings admits she was considering divorce when her husband disappears and when his body gets washed to shore. She protests her innocence convincingly, yet District Attorney Geraldine Schilling won't budge. Louisa's fingerprints turned up on what seems to be the murder weapon. Louisa was named sole heir, disinheriting husband's daughter.

Marty wishes her client would agree to some kind of plea bargain, but Louisa claims she can't name an accomplice because she's not guilty. And she wants Marty to help her find the real killer.

The courtoom characters comes across with lively humor: an eminently fair African-American judge and a stubborn prosecutor. Realistic? Well,most judges are ex-prosecutors and this judge actually respects the defense. And prosecutors are quick to accuse family members and don't like to back down.

In spite of herself, Marty begins to admire the defendant's spirit and she's slightly envious of Louisa's ability to charm everyone she meets, including the prison matrons. And she really wants to see this woman go free.

Conners creates suspense because we, as experienced mystery readers, know Louisa can't be guilty. And she piles on the danger, revealing incriminating evidence that seems unshakeable.

Louisa seems headed for a maximum security prison until the very last section of the book. We realize something's got to happen, and it does -- right in the last few pages. Conners does an excellent job of ending the story in just a page or two at the very end.

The human interest subplots add to the interests. Kydd, the near-perfect young associate lawyer, may be headed for an imperfect romance. Marty's son Luke seems ambivalent about college. These stories, along with the author's gift for explaining complex courtroom maneuvers, will keep us watching for the next volume in the series.

A good read...for a cozy winter evening, a long plane trip or just a Great Escape from the tedium of the tube.

Rating:
Summary: A Snooze
Review: Set in Cape Cod, Rose Connors's series features attorney Marty Nickerson and her lover Harry Madigan. In the third outing of the series, Harry asks Marty to take on the murder defense of his law school lover of twenty -five years ago.

One of Rose Connors strengths is characterization. They are real in a fascinating larger than life kind of way. It is fun to read about them. The weakness in this book was the plot. It was not suspenseful at all and really made the book drag through three-quarters of the book. I really wanted to like it, but in the end it just seemed boring.


Rating:
Summary: and now to the issue of credibility...
Review: This book has none, and the author should know better. The prosecutor lets loose a stream of profanity in the judge's chambers, then perches on his desk to show off her good-looking legs. The associate bounds into bed on the first night with a client charged with murdering her husband and makes sure the cops find him there the next day. The financial planner thinks he can stand up in front of the judge and represent another person without being a licensed attorney. The judge lets anyone and everyone get up and start yelling about whatever they want, any time in the courtroom. The defendant is supposedly one of the top graduates in her law school class at Yale, but doesn't even know the basics, like when to keep her mouth shut. Maybe all this does go on in some jurisdictions, but I wouldnt want to try any of this behavior. Not to mention the lawyers trespassing and breaking and entering on the excuse that everybody just walks in everybody else's kitchen doors on the Cape. We had to pass a Multistate Exam in professional ethics for admission to the New York Bar. These people must have flunked it countless times. The evildoers in the book (who are in the majority)are unrelentingly evil. Anastasia and Lucifer (names out of Walt Disney's Cinderella, by the way) are so over the top they belong in a cartoon. There are unnecessary evildoers, like Marty's ex-husband, who shows up to curse everybody out and then leaves, with no further connection to the story. The dialogue is repetitive and "cute." Finally, there is no mystery. The solution is so simple that for all the characters to miss it is absurd. You can spot if you know anything about wills (yes, that would be me). You don't have to be a lawyer, either. Nowadays you can learn this kind of thing by watching television. This is poor writing all the way around. I would not recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Engagingly written but lacking a mystery twist
Review: When her boyfriend asks her to represent an ex-girlfriend, attorney Marty Nickerson is reluctant. She's even more reluctant when she meets the beautiful woman--who promptly seduces her assistant (The Kydd). But when the new widow is accused of murdering her husband, Marty has to put aside her insecurities and go to bat for the client. Unfortunately, all of the evidence looks bad. Marty might not want the woman to start up again with her boyfriend, but she doesn't want her in jail for life either.

Author Rose Connors writes an engaging, fast-moving story. Marty, with her boyfriend insecurities and problems with an ex-husband, makes a sympathetic character. MAXIMUM SECURITY is an easy book to pick up for a moment and keep reading until it's finished.

From a mystery perspective, I thought there could be a bit more mystery--the solution is obvious as Connors failed to present many alternate possibilities. Although I enjoyed the book, I felt like I was owed a bit more twist.