Solid Legal Thriller - The Ex

It's hard for a die-hard Law and Order fan like myself to be surprised by legal thrillers. There are just so many of those episodes, dealing with so many different stories, that I can sniff out a killer before the first commercial break. So it means a lot to say that Alafair Burke's The Ex kept me guessing.

Defense lawyer Olivia is called upon to defend her ex-fiance Jack in a multiple murder case, where the victims include the man responsible for the death of Jack's wife and mother of his child. This case had everything fans of the genre could hope for: a complex case with multiple, viable suspects, a few different avenues of inquiry with some bombshell discoveries, a solid grounding in forensic-speak, and some emotional baggage for Jack and Olivia that was never settled. On top of all that, what you think will be the easiest solution is something that Burke grapples with throughout the story. It doesn't feel so simple, then, when Olivia goes back and forth with her own doubts about Jack's innocence. So whichever way you slice it, you won't see it coming. It's very, very clever writing. My only regret is that the resolution comes in such a rushed way that I didn't feel I had enough time to really absorb the final solution and see how it played out for all characters involved.

Honestly, this story could have been beefed up with even more nuance and detail. I could have read something almost twice as long. That just goes to show, though, how much I enjoyed it. I've never read Burke before, but I'll be back for a second helping soon. It's nice to see there are still some solid thriller writers in the world. For a while there, I was getting worried.

K. Rating: 5/5

You'd be proud of some great lawyering, McCoy.