Marcia Clark (1) (1953–)

A surprisingly good debut novel by the infamous D.A. of OJ Simpson's trial. D.A. Rachel Knight is socked by the apparent murder-suicide involving a co-worker. Though she didn't know him well, she can't believe Jake would be involved in a sexual tryst with an underage boy in a seedy motel. With the help from her police detective friend, Bailey, she surreptitiously investigates Jake's case while working on the case she inherited in his absence. The daughter of a wealthy Los Angeles doctor was show more raped in their home and the girl is convinced that the likeliest suspect - the gangbanger she's been tutoring - is innocent. Rachel's inclined to agree but leads and subsequent events point in increasingly confusing directions.

Clark employs a nice combination of legal and police maneuvers to solve both crimes. Her characters are wise-cracking, women with minor faults and she doesn't fall into the trap of portraying all male characters as bad guys. Rachel is still rebounding from a failed relationship with a good guy but the hunky cop working Jake's case may be the one to help her move on.

Los Angeles figures prominently as Rachel and Bailey traverse differing neighborhoods and half the restaurants in the city. The resolution of the plot is both surprising and plausible. A good start to what promises to be an entertaining series along the lines of LIsa Scottoline's wry legal thrillers. show less

I can remember when Ms. Clark's first book, Guilt by Association, first came out and I must say, I was a little conflicted about reading it. Yes, I imagine few people know the law enforcement world of LA better than Clark, famous for her prosecution in the OJ Simpson case. But just because someone is well known, and maybe can get a book contract, does not mean they can actually write and I feared that was the case here. Well, I never did read that first book, but when I received a copy of show more her second, Guilty by Degrees, through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program, I was happy to check it out.

And I will admit, my fears were totally unfounded.

Ms. Clark is a very good writer and this is a very good, very entertaining legal/police thriller.

The plot is clever and smart, full of suspense and moves along at a steady pace, a pace that will make it hard to put the book down. The dialogue is very well done, smart and often with a touch of humor. The characters, especially Rachel, are very good, very believable. But as we hope with a good character, she is far from perfect, with a few hidden secrets of her own than she will go to great lengths to protect, even ending a relationship with the man she loves when he gets a little too nosy about her past. So maybe that gives her a little more insight into out villain in this book, and a very good villain it is, every bit as smart and clever as Rachel, a very worthy adversary with their own dark, very dark, past. And I assume a villain we might see more of in the future, since that is left a bit open-ended at the book's end.

I do have a few small issues with the book. I could not help but wonder how a prosecutor had so much time, days and days, to be on the road, doing her own investigation. Doesn't she have a desk full of other cases to be working on? Yes, there is a little mention of that, a few late nights at the office, 'cleaning up', but it still seemed rather unbelievable. And the frequent restaurant name dropping, while interesting at first, got a bit tiring as it went on and on. Do these people never eat at home? Do they never end a day with drinking a few martinis?

Still, I must admit that Clark was able to make Los Angelos, a city I have never had much interest in, seem rather intriguing. And that is doing something!

Guilty by Degrees is a well written, quite well done book, one that mystery fans, especially fans of legal and police thrillers, will want to pick up. show less

“Guilt by Degrees” (audio) by Marcia Clark greatly exceeded my expectations.

I have lived in Southern California, participated in jury duty often in downtown LA so I know the buildings in this book. I also enjoyed working with attorneys in connection with my position in LA. So listening to one set in LA was a big treat. Ever since the O.J. Simpson trial I have been a big fan of Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor.

I enjoyed her intelligent and witty answers when she was interviewed on TV. show more I missed the first book with Rachel Knight, “Guilt by Association” but this one works well as a standalone.

Rachel Knight, the main character is a Special Trials Deputy Prosecutor. She has lots of positives in her life. She lives in the luxurious Biltmore hotel complete with stained glass windows and a wonderful room service. She can tell you the best and the worst of LA. But she has her own personal demons that interfere with her life and that comes out in this story too. She had a tragedy in her childhood so she tries to protect herself by keeping her past a secret even from her closest friends and her by boyfriend.

Rachel falls into this particular case because of her ideals. She knew that the real reason that this case was going to be rejected was that it was a murder of a homeless man, even worse he couldn’t be identified. He did not matter but he mattered to her. The defendant was let go. There seemed to be no evidence and no reliable witnesses. Was that defendant the real killer? Something bugged her about this case. Her co-workers, worked long hours with her to uncover the mystery. After a lot of careful interviewing and getting information from dangerous characters, the story explodes! There are connections between this homeless man’s murder and murder of LAPD policemen. You will be gasping as the story unfolds.

January LaVoy did the reading for this audio book and was excellent. She was able to expertly handle a variety of voices with different ages and sex.

I definitely recommend this thrilling adventure with the Rachel Knight. Now, I will go back and read the first in this series, “Death by Association. show less

Samantha is scraping by as a defence attorney despite being very good at her job (and it's always a pleasure to read about competent women). She is engaged by a police officer to defend him on a double murder charge and, accompanied by her assistant Michelle and PI Alex, sets out to find alternative suspects she could dangle in front of the jury. Samantha is very clear that it is not her role to find out 'who actually did it'. As the story goes on there is a twist which complicates show more Samantha's relationship with her client, and then a twist at the end which means I won't be continuing with this series.

This was an easy read with plenty of forward momentum, although it perhaps went on a bit long. I would have preferred some more (any?) scripted courtroom dialogue and less action too. show less