Rating: 
Summary: Sensational Legal Thriller Expands Genre's Possibilities
Review: "Equivocal Death" by Amy Gutman is the latest entry in the legal mystery genre, and the book does nothing to allay the sneaking suspicions that the genre may have peaked. There is absolutely nothing new or original here. The main character, Kate Paine, is a Harvard Law graduate who works at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, or so the author tells you a hundred times. Perhaps Gutman keeps repeating where Kate went to law school in order to prove Kate is smart in spite of the character's ditzy behavior and general cluelessness. Even though Kate is supposedly a brilliant and ambitious attorney, 40% of the book is spent reading about Kate's whining about a romance that failed two years ago and obsessing about a new romance that her best friend is striking up with another woman. Another 30% of the book is spent on useless red herrings that do not add any suspense because they have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. The final 30% of the book deals with the murder of Madeleine Waters, a female partner in the firm where Kate works. Because Madeleine is killed off early on in the book, and there are only a few pages in the book devoted to her, no attachment is formed to the character and her death has no impact. Madeleine wasn't particularly well known or well liked by any of the other characters, so the plot has no choice but to go steadily downhill after she dies, which unfortunately is on page 46, and the book is 352 pages long. As another reviewer noted, Kate doesn't really solve the mystery here. The killer spells out in great detail why he killed Madeleine, as well as another person, but the reasons itself do not make any sense and neither does the killer's identity. It's as if Gutman pulled a character's name out of a hat and then set about making up reasons why the person did it. While I have definitely read worse legal thrillers, I can't recommend "Equivocal Death." The nonsensical plot and the bird-brained Harvard law educated main character made this book a chore to finish.
Rating: 
Summary: Tepid legal thriller
Review: "Equivocal Death" by Amy Gutman is the latest entry in the legal mystery genre, and the book does nothing to allay the sneaking suspicions that the genre may have peaked. There is absolutely nothing new or original here. The main character, Kate Paine, is a Harvard Law graduate who works at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, or so the author tells you a hundred times. Perhaps Gutman keeps repeating where Kate went to law school in order to prove Kate is smart in spite of the character's ditzy behavior and general cluelessness. Even though Kate is supposedly a brilliant and ambitious attorney, 40% of the book is spent reading about Kate's whining about a romance that failed two years ago and obsessing about a new romance that her best friend is striking up with another woman. Another 30% of the book is spent on useless red herrings that do not add any suspense because they have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. The final 30% of the book deals with the murder of Madeleine Waters, a female partner in the firm where Kate works. Because Madeleine is killed off early on in the book, and there are only a few pages in the book devoted to her, no attachment is formed to the character and her death has no impact. Madeleine wasn't particularly well known or well liked by any of the other characters, so the plot has no choice but to go steadily downhill after she dies, which unfortunately is on page 46, and the book is 352 pages long. As another reviewer noted, Kate doesn't really solve the mystery here. The killer spells out in great detail why he killed Madeleine, as well as another person, but the reasons itself do not make any sense and neither does the killer's identity. It's as if Gutman pulled a character's name out of a hat and then set about making up reasons why the person did it. While I have definitely read worse legal thrillers, I can't recommend "Equivocal Death." The nonsensical plot and the bird-brained Harvard law educated main character made this book a chore to finish.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for a first novel but a little cliched
Review: "Equivocal Death" is about a young female attorney who is assigned to a team of lawyers to defend a men's magazine editor for sexual harassment. During the case, one of the senior partners, a woman, is murdered. The book started out great. Gutman does a nice job capturing the flavor of New York City and the life in a big law firm. The plot is certainly noteworthy. Sexual harassment is a hot topic and fits in nicely. The main character, Kate Paine, comes across as likable and believable. But I think the book lost steam toward the end. I figured out who the killer was fairly easily. Plus the killer has "talking killer" syndrome. That's where the killer/villain spells out in dialogue exactly why he/she did the things they did. There is a subplot with a teen-age girl whose mother is a drug addict that is completely pointless. I think it was just there to make the book longer. If you take it out it doesn't affect the story at all. Plus, Kate Paine doesn't really SOLVE anything. Evidence turns up that she doesn't really do anything with. Also one thing that struck me as odd. Many of the characters are referred to by their full names. Carter Mills this or Martin Drescher that. The only character I know that goes by his full name is Charlie Brown. But it's a first novel so you have to allow room for growth. I think Ms. Gutman has a future with being a full-time author. If she does another Kate Paine mystery, I hope she makes it more of a mystery.
Rating:
Summary: A Boring Attempt
Review: Although the ending was a surprise, the book is much too long. Ms Gutman could have cut back 1/2 of the book and it would have flowed much better. Unrealistic, at times boring, I kept hoping. Reminded me of an English literature class where you have to count the words in order to comply with the professor's instructions, thereby making the story MUCH too long...and boring.
Rating:
Summary: Sensational Legal Thriller Expands Genre's Possibilities
Review: At last, a legal thriller with a psychologically and emotional complex female lead. In many ways this novel breaks the rules when it comes to what we expect of our lead character. I can't divulge more on this point without giving away too much of the plot. I must say that the most satisfying thing about the book is the way in which Amy Gutman plays on the somewhat "normal" psychological profile of a young woman with a bit of an imposter complex, who, due to her own personal history and the over-assuming law firm culture, completely subordinates her own needs and physical well-being for her corporate sponsors. In an utterly chilling moment, her intense sense of loyalty to her employer crosses over from dutiful to dangerous. After completing Equivocal Death, I had that sweet ambivalence that only comes at the end of a wonderful event. I felt the investment had been well worth the wait. All of the pieces came together. Yet, at the sime time, I felt a sense of emptiness and loss rush in. It's over and I just got to know the protagonist, Kate and the other characters.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: At twenty-six, Harvard law graduate Kate Paine feels she is heading to the big time after just one year at the prestigious Manhattan law firm, Samson & Mills. She knows that company big shot Carter Mills likes his young protege. Still, another partner, Madeleine Waters warns Kate to watch her butt because things are not quite what they seem at the law firm. Kate plans to ask Madeleine to explain, but before they meet again, someone murders the older female attorney. A dismayed Kate begins to look beneath the cosmopolitan veneer of the company's surface. She soon uncovers acrimonious rivalries and the use of sex to gain an edge. Kate fears for her own life when she realizes how much she resembles a younger Madeleine. EQUIVOCAL DEATH is excellent when the subplot deals with the trials and tribulations of a young lawyer trying to make a name in a distinguished law firm. When the tale turns to a well-written legal thriller it loses some of its oomph because Kate seems out of character as an amateur sleuth. She is a wonderful tyro attorney struggling to float in a sea of piranhas and even retains that fresh exuberance of the newcomer while conducting the investigation of her superiors. Amy Gutman is clearly a talented author, but needs to decide between a legal thriller and a legal expose. Hopefully, she chooses the latter starring a maturing Kate. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Overwritten Under-Edited Self-Conscious Clap-Trap
Review: Author Amy Gutman tries as hard as does her paper-thin heroine to be urbane, hip and entirely New York. Unfortunately, Amy is even more vapid, tepid, and tedious. Aside from the self-conscious 'Aren't I clever?' tangential pap that Gutman slathers on each page, aside from her compulsion to recapitulate the plot and the 'clues' (sic) every ten pages (pandering, perhaps to the dim-bulbs who are the books intended readers) aside from the cliche'd over-description of every single human emotion, aside from qualifying one out of every three adjectives with the word 'almost', aside from beginning nearly one out of every four dialogue sentences with the word 'So', as in, "So, where are we having dinner tonight?"... "So, are you still dating Dan?"..."So, do you like my new hairdo?" etc, the book is replete with a plethora of hoot-worthy 'begs-to-be-edited' sentences like: "She would behave, in a word, like a Sampson and Mills attorney." Unless I miss my count, that's five words too many. And this thudding bore of a book is many thousand words too many. 'Equivocal Death' is unequivocally awful. Makes a nice paper-weight, though...
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: Equivocal Death is a fast paced,exciting murder mystery which is set within a high powered, prestigious, corporate law firm in Manhattan. I read it in one day---couldn't put it down. The mystery is well crafted without an obvious villain and is deeply imbedded within the history of the law firm and the lives of its partners. Amy Gutman's multidimensional development of the novel's main protagonist---a young woman lawyer named Kate Paine---is done with sensitivity and skill. Her painful and emotional struggle to establish some sense of personal identity and direction, while being consumed by a workaholic legal environment, is a recurring complex theme which only heightens the suspense as the mystery unfolds. Equivocal Death is one of he best fictional mysteries that I have read......
Rating:
Summary: An Great Debut Legal Thriller!
Review: Equivocal Death is a fine legal thriller by first-time author Amy Gutman. I enjoyed the pace and interesting turn of events. Though I had little trouble figuring out the culprit well in advance of the ending, that may be more of a reflection of being a criminologist and legal novelist myself. Overall, I think that Gutman's novel was a pleasant addition to the legal thriller genre and look forward to her next one. From R. Barri Flowers, author of DAMNING EVIDENCE, POSITIVE I.D., and JUSTICE SERVED.
Rating:
Summary: Great Expose of Law Firm Life
Review: Equivocal Death is a great expose of life at a large New York law firm. Like Solzhenytsin's books about the gulag, Amy Gutman's novel is filled with little details that, together, powerfully depict the absurd misery of law firm life - the pompous senior associate who is more concerned about a research memo than the murder of one of the partners the previous night, the backstabbing among partners over "lockstep" compensation, tales of partners throwing staplers at paralegals and associates who collapsed during all night conference calls, and the hypocrisy of representing repugnant and demanding clients. It is alternately amusing and horrifying and, always, realistic. But the book is, above all, a gripping murder mystery full of unexpected plot twists that kept me riveted until the very end. The first time author, who quit law to write full time, definitely made a good career choice. We can only hope that she will stick with novels and write a sequel that is on a par with Equivocal Death.
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