Rating: 
Summary: OJ, OJ, and still more OJ
Review: Dunne's approach is to size up each person he encounters and either vouch for that person's good character or to engage in broad-gauge character assassination. He either likes you or he doesn't. Dunne never met a cop or prosecutor he didn't like, and Dunne never considers the possibility that inept cops arrested the wrong guy.The glaring exception to Dunne's principle that the defendant is always guilty is the Safra murder in Monaco, where the defendant was an American male nurse who, in Dunne's opinion, was railroaded by incompetent or corrupt Monegasque cops and prosecutors. Yet in the February 2003 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, published after this book, Dunne does a 180-degree turn and talks about how, once the trial began, it was obvious that the male nurse was guilty. One might hope that Dunne would get a dose of humility from this experience, but it's not likely. Dunne is always 100% sure he is right and everyone else is wrong. Dunne's unquestioning support of all cops, good and bad, is most apparent in his unwavering friendship with Mark Fuhrman, the detective who played the pivotal role in the O.J. Simpson trial, and who was found to have perjured himself regarding whether he had ever used the 'n-word.' Granted, lying about such a thing is not equal to murder, but Dunne doesn't grasp how damaging Fuhrman's perjury was to the prosecution's case. When a detective lies about a small thing, it is logical that he should not be trusted about larger things. Dunne just doesn't get it. That Fuhrman would lie about something under oath on national TV, knowing that he had an ex-lover with a tape recording proving the contrary, suggests that Fuhrman is not quite the genius that Dunne portrays him as being. The book is mainly a reprinting of Vanity Fair columns, of which 10 (of 18) chapters are about the Simpson trail. The most moving chapter is the first, where he recounts the murder trial of his own daughter. The author is correct in his theme that the criminal justice system is a mess, but anyone looking for a thoughtful analysis will be disappointed. At times, Dunne shows a gift for narrative flow; at other times, he comes across as little more than a self-important gossip columnist and name-dropper.
Rating: 
Summary: A new review...
Review: I wrote a harsh review of this book and Mr. Dunne. I would like to reverse my opinion. I found myself thinking that he
is, indeed, a very good investigative reporter. These true
crime stories still fascinate. It's just that the recent column
in Vanity Fair seems so trivial compared to the early stories. I hope that Mr. Dunne continues to write in-depth pieces like the ones in this book about the Menendez brothers, Claus von Bulow, etc. The only novel I have been able to penetrate of his is
"The Two Mrs. Grenvilles." And the portrayal in the TV miniseries of this book by Ann Margaret was brilliant. The others just didn't hold my interest. I will say, again, that Mr. Dunne is completely justified in his rage against Judge Katz and the defense attorney at the trial of his daughter's killer. I hope I never meet Judge Katz...I know I would want to spit on him.
Rating: 
Summary: A re-hash. Yawn.
Review: The best part of this book is the first...re. the tragic death of
his daughter at the hands of a monster...and the subsequent failure of the law... another monster, in this book...to offer up true justice for the crime. All that said, Dunne seems pretentious to me, as a journalist, as writer. To begin with, most of the stuff in this book, as another reviewer has pointed out, has been dealt with by Mr. Dunne ad nauseum in Vanity Fair already. I, too, was hoping for some fresh insights. Nada. Second, I can't believe Vanity Fair or any of his other publishers don't notice that, in so many of the cases he writes about, he exhibits absolutely no journalistic objectivity
whatsoever...it's just all his personal blather about brittle people. He comes across as a celebrity boot-licker (despite his protestations that he is an "outsider). He flatters himself.
In fact, he's a rather mediocre "insider" like most of the people he writes about. And he's not near the writer that Truman Capote, another celebrity hound, was. At least Capote was a poet. Dunne seems to be simply a "tattler" of sorts, and a rather peevish one at that. He's always having a hissy fit about someone snubbing him or insulting him . Give me a break. He's so snotty, pretending to be an
intellectual; I can understand why a lot of people would shun him. He doesn't exactly come across as a pleasant man, though I'm sure he was a good father and kind to a chosen few. His is a kind of yellow journalism...cat-fighting, name-calling, meow, meow. And here's the funny thing: I happen to agree with most of his views on the topcs he writes about, so I'm not some "secret Kennedy" sneaking in a bad review. Don't get up on your high horse over that, Mr. Dunne. No, I am simply an amused reader who can't believe Vanity Fair would allow such...to take a prominent position in their pages. And, then, too, also I must admit that I turn to his column first thing every month because I want to see what socialite(s) he is pretending to turn into chopped liver...when what he is really doing is giving them inordinate publicity for their shallow shtick...and his...
Rating:
Summary: Justice, but mostly the people he knows
Review: For a book titled Justice; Crimes, Trials, and Punishments, it has very little to do with law and order. I find Dunne's overabundance of name dropping quite distracting as well as trivial to the cases he presents. It seems more the work of a tabloid writer than anything else. I constantly found myself flipping back and forth trying to figure out what role each character had played in each crime, and or trial. This was especially the case in the chapter entitled "The Social Web of Claus von Bulow." I was quite surprised that Dunne never even made mention of the crime that von Bulow is suspected of committing. I understand that most people likely know the circumstances surrounding the case, but a short overview would have been nice.(I was a toddler when the trial took place, my knowledge of the crime is from outside sources) I do like the way Dunne compiled several cases into one book. They are all quite intriguing. I have all the respect for Dunne's quest for justice. His personal story is gripping. I am anxious to see if his previous book, Fatal Charms, contains more about crime and punishment, and less about the people he knows.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the read even if you don't hold his views
Review: I gave this four stars due to the entertaining readability of the book. However, I take many exception to his views on the O.J. Simpson case. He believes that the criminal verdict was a race-based decision. As one who watched the trial from beginning to end, someone not of the same race as the defendant or the majority of the jury, I was offended as I came to the same conclusions as the jury (although I agree the deliberations should probably have gone on longer.) Also, for someone who was very offended by anonymous letters to Judge Ito, it seems to border on hypocrisy when every other page seems to have a reference to someone whom he quotes, yet says he can't or won't name. Other than that, I found this book to be very interesting. As a true crime fan, I can highly recommend the book as a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Good intro to Dunne, Great for plane reading
Review: Although Dunne's claims of being an "outsider" to high society are as specious as Capote's were (both seems quite infatuated with the rich-n-snooty, and not wholly apart from their social circle), this is a fine book to read for an intro to Dunne's sharp writing. He layers on the facts, quirks, and juicy details of the given crimes and trials, and points out the vast ineptitude of the justice system along the way. A restless plane passenger, I was able to sit still and absorbed in Justice for an entire six and a half hour plane ride. Perfect material for wiling away the hours. His writing is unpretentious and clips by at quick speed. There were some moments of repitition and some muddling of perspective at times (hell, after dealing with the maze of the justice system, who wouldn't stumble now and again?). But for a bit of engrossing escapist fare, this is a dandy book. Won't transport you to another world or dazzle you with gymnastic prose or earth-shattering new insight, but that ain't the point, so there's no gripe there. Poolside, crammed in a seat in coach class, or flopped on the couch for an afternoon, this is a good choice. A surprise, since most crime-related writing hold little to no attraction for me.
Rating:
Summary: I liked the book
Review: I was familiar with Dunne because of his writing with Vanity Fair. I also knew about the murder of his daughter, Dominique. This is the first book I've read by Dunne, and I'm impressed. It was painful to read about the terrible injustice his family went through when his daughter's killer got off the hook. I also loved how he wrote about the OJ trial as it progressed, rather than hindsite. I'm looking forward to more books by Mr. Dunne. I don't care if he's a social climber or not, this was a very interesting book!
Rating:
Summary: A Stale Helping of His Previous Work
Review: I have never read Mr. Dunne and thought that I would enjoy his fresh and unique perspective on recent criminal trials. Unfortunately, all of the vignettes have been previously published in Vanity Fair and little or no effort has been made to update them for subsequent developments. As such, anyone with more than a casual interest in the subjects (Menendez, OJ, Safra, etc.) will have already heard 99% of what he has to say. His prose is somewhat cumbersome and the celebrity gossip and relationship details where he has genuine insight and access are often presented in a confusing manner. Mr. Dunne could have written a much better book had he updated and critiqued his previous work, accounting for new events or noting where his original opinion had changed. Unless you are fortunate enough run in his social cricles, or else your name appers in print on its pages, you are better to leave it on the shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book!!
Review: Excellent book. I highly recommend it!! Good writing as only Mr. Dunne can do ....
Rating:
Summary: More to Him Than I Thought
Review: Until the OJ Simpson trial I never knew much about Dominick Dunne beyond the fact that he was a "society writer". To me that meant he was a dilletante not worth my time. Then during the trial I came to enjoy his analyses on various news programs, but I still shied away from reading his Vanity Fair articles. Therefore when I picked up Justice it was mainly to review his take on the OJ mess. I was immediately taken aback by the first article, which is the story of the murder of Dunne's own daughter, the trial of her murderer, and the pain Dunne still feels years later. Clearly, there is more to this man than I thought. This was borne out by other sections of Justice which deal with other famous trials Dunne has observed: Von Bulow, Menendez, etc. All of them are well written and provide a troubling vision of how American justice doesn't seem to work well much of the time. I don't mean that Dunne is always deep and weighty. He drops plenty of society names and spends a little too much time cataloguing the lives of the rich but worthless. Overall, though, Justice is a good analysis of some of our most notorious recent trials
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