Items25The creator’s order
  1. 1Mystic river (2001)Mystic river (2001) 8.4/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2001A daughter's murder draws a detective, an ex-prisoner and a traumatised childhood friend back into one another's lives. Lehane makes private vengeance and official investigation competing responses to the same loss, with suspicion shaped by injuries that long predate the crime. Begin here for the…0
  2. 2Gone, Baby, Gone (1998)Gone, Baby, Gone (1998) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1998Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro search for four-year-old Amanda McCready in a case crowded with people claiming to act for a child's good. Lehane keeps asking what that claim commits them to, and who gets to make it. This later Kenzie and Gennaro novel is especially valuable for the conflict…0
  3. 3The Pledge (1959)The Pledge (1959) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1959A detective promises a murdered child's mother that he will find the killer, then refuses to accept the convenient resolution offered by an arrest. Dürrenmatt examines the damage a sincere obligation can do when it hardens into an absolute demand. Joel Agee's English translation makes a short,…0
  4. 4Presumed Innocent (1987)Presumed Innocent (1987) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1987Rusty Sabich moves from prosecutor to accused when a colleague with whom he had an affair is murdered. Turow's legal suspense gives personal loyalty, professional ambition and the burden of proof room to work against one another. Its value here extends beyond courtroom tactics: the narrator's…0
  5. 5Defending Jacob (2012)Defending Jacob (2012) 10.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 2012A prosecutor's fourteen-year-old son is accused of killing another boy, turning the father's professional confidence into an intensely personal commitment. Landay lets the parents' different responses matter alongside the evidence. The question is what protecting a child requires when love,…0i
  6. 6The Confession (2010)The Confession (2010)Published 1 Jan 2010An innocent man faces execution while the person responsible finally offers a confession. Grisham gives the reader a clear injustice, then builds suspense around the difficulty of making institutions respond to unwelcome information in time. Choose it for the human cost of treating a completed…0i
  7. 7The Chamber (1994)The Chamber (1994) 7.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1994A young lawyer tries to save the life of his grandfather, a former Klansman convicted after a fatal bombing. The family connection makes compassion possible without dissolving the racism and violence that brought the case to court. Grisham's death-penalty drama is useful for separating the right to…0
  8. 8A Lesson Before Dying (1993)A Lesson Before Dying (1993) 8.3/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1993Jefferson has already been sentenced to death when schoolteacher Grant Wiggins becomes involved in the effort to help him preserve his dignity. Gaines moves attention from winning a case to the daily work of treating a condemned person as fully human. Set in segregated Louisiana, the novel gives…0
  9. 9To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) 8.3/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1960Scout's account of her father defending a Black man accused of rape places a child's growing understanding beside the racial power of a courtroom in 1930s Alabama. The familiar portrait of Atticus is only part of what makes the novel useful here. Lee also asks what children learn from a community's…0
  10. 10Snow Falling on Cedars (1994)Snow Falling on Cedars (1994) 7.3/10 on Open LibraryPublished 1 Jan 1994A fisherman's death leads to the trial of a Japanese American neighbour on a Washington island. Guterson places the evidence alongside wartime internment, old attachments and resentments that affect how it is heard. This is a patient, atmospheric choice about the difficulty of setting private…0