Absolute Certainty by Rose Connors was published in 2002, and won the Mary Higgins Clark Award in 2003. Connors went on to write three more legal dramas, ceasing in 2005.
This book appealed to me because (1) I like “legal thrillers” (or courtroom dramas, lawyer-mysteries, etc), (2) It takes place on Cape Cod where I lived while in high school, and (3) it was a new-to-me author in this genre. It is a fast read, good but simple writing, of about 250 pages, once eliminating the many blank pages surrounding the chapter-ending-areas (60 very, very short chapters).
I began motivated, but found that the first 80 pages plodded along and in totally predictable fashion, with a second homicide occurring just when I had been expecting it would. But the pace and conflicts gradually picked up from there. Except for a few pages near the end, it never was suspenseful, and the red herring culprit seemed too obviously a red herring. On the other hand, there was some good behind-the-scenes drama going on in the office of the District Attorney for Barnstable County.
Why 4 stars?
1) She created a realistic and likable hero in ADA Martha Nickerson. She is divorced and has a teenage son who is a bit too good to be true. But she is a hard-worker, and has solid values which get her into trouble. Even the name “Nickerson” is a popular family name on Cape Cod.
2) I am from the Cape, and I enjoyed all the real locations she described in and around Chatham (both the author’s home and the book hero’s home), in and around the county courthouse, and at the State Prison at “Cedar Junction.” (Actual place geography is one of the things I like about my fav author’s writing – Michael Connelly).
3) Although a good part of the writing was kind of vanilla, author Rose Connors described the circumstances of one homicide victim’s funeral, and the family and friends involved so well that I had tears rolling down while I read. That has not happened to me in a VERY long time – so I say, kudos! – she CAN write in a moving way.
4) And she does deliver on the book title quite well. She described why absolute certainty does fit well in our criminal justice system: from a personnel point of view, a legal technicalities point of view, and from political pressure point of view. The book shows how hard it is for people to get their head around that. This comes out as part of the plot, through side plots related to the hero’s ex-husband’s work as a forensic psychologist, and through the changed lives of the people impacted by the main case of the book (for example, the superior court judge in the case).
5) The legal mumbo-jumbo was well done and believable. This, together with the realistic location descriptions helped to build and deliver a solid story.
A solid B- or Eval=81 or 4 / 5 stars.
