Conclusive Evidence

The author, Al Macy, tends to give his book characters a humorous nature. I enjoy his writing style and have read most of the books he’s written in his Beckman series. Conclusive Evidence is the first of his books that I listened to as an audiobook. I have to admit that a narrator does add to the enjoyment of this story.

In the past, I envisioned eBook story scenes and spoken character accents in my head. It would be a mere coincidence if these mental interpretations matched what the author had in his head when he wrote the character dialogs. A book narrator, who has the opportunity to speak with the author about the accents, can get them sounding as they were intended.

The book is about an attorney, Garrett Goodlove, who, fighting show more severe depression caused by the loss of his wife and toddler niece in close succession, is called on to defend his deft twin sister. She is accused of a murder she did not commit. Despite putting together a good list of expert witnesses, he handicaps himself by having delusions that the attractive female prosecutor is romantically interested in him. Of course, the romantic interest is a ruse by the prosecutor to knock him off his defensive game.

Further hindering his defense, Goodlove’s private investigator gets physically attacked by gangsters and suffers a heart attack from the trauma. This results in her being in a comma just as trial begins. All the information needed by Goodlove to defend his sister is on the investigator’s password-protected laptop. Goodlove ultimately figures out a way to access the information and proves his sister innocent. There is a Perry Mason moment at the conclusion of the trial that exposes the true culprit.

I listened to Conclusive Evidence during my morning walks. Arriving back home after each walk was disappointing as I had to turn off the audiobook. Waiting until the next morning’s walk to pick the book back up tested my waiting resolve. Conclusive Evidence was a captivating thriller. show less

Redwood Point, Northern California. Garrett Goodlove and Jen Shek are law partners. The firm began with Garrett and Jen as criminal defense attorneys. Since a pair of tragic events, Garrett’s ongoing depression changed his life perspective and his cases to family law.

Another change in Garrett’s life was estrangement from Carly, his fraternal twin sister. Estranged until Carly burst into the office and made a startling announcement in American Sign Language (ASL) about her ex, Angelo Romero. Garrett will pivot quickly to defend his sister, but can he save her from prison and isolation? Did she murder her ex? Circumstantial or conclusive evidence?

“…it only matters what the jury thinks...”

A lawyer defending a family member is show more not new, but the twist is the twin sister has been deaf since birth, which brings new elements in evidence and courtroom drama. The story keeps a brisk pace with well-developed characters. I’m always appreciative of legal fiction, with the primary attorney handling more than one case through the storyline. This plot also brought family drama that strengthened the interest and intrigue.

As legal thrillers are one of many favorite genres, I’m delighted to find an author new to me. I won’t hesitate to read more of this series. show less

Attorney Garrett Goodlove return to criminal law when his twin sister is arrested for the murder of her estranged husband. The case is complicated by the sister's deafness and the victim's history of shady undertakings. Garrett is also hampered by bouts of depression and an inappropriate attraction to the lead prosecutor.
Macy has crafted a great courtroom thriller with a flawed hero, family drama, wonderful supporting characters and an ending that satisfies. I would not mind reading more about Goodlove, his practice, and his family.

Conclusive Evidence: A Novel by Al Macy

Garrett is a criminal defense attorney. His sister (Carly) is accused of pushing her husband off of a cliff. Carly, (is deaf) insists the only one to help her is her Brother. Garrett decides to take her case, but he needs to know the entire truth from Carly.

A good plot with likable charters moving at a steady pace. Action, thrills and intense moments, had me engrossed from the first page. Carly being deaf added to the story, it reaches out to hearing impaired (readers). Overall I found the story enjoyable and feel those who love a great court room drama will like it as well.

The book's plot is interesting enough, but I was not invested in the characters. Something is lacking in the character development. While I did finish the whole book, it was more a matter of finding out what happened than anything. The dialog was a little weak and trite for my taste. However the book did keep me turning the pages to find out whodunit.

The plot of Conclusive Evidence is easy to follow and doesn’t require lots of questions in the readers mind.
Garrett Goodlove, a former criminal defense lawyer, now practices family law. When his twin sister is accused of murder, he steps back into his prior life as a defense lawyer.
There are two stories going on at the same time. In my opinion, the subplot tends to be irrelevant as it is unrelated to the overall issue of his sister’s guilt or innocence and doesn’t add any complications to the main plot. As a reader, I completely forgot about the first story line until the results were stuck in at the conclusion of the book. The introduction of Garrett’s children also seemed unnecessary. It wasn’t clear to me what their purpose show more in the overall story line was. I liked his development of the courtroom witnesses. I also found his investigator to be an interesting character and would have liked to have her character given more prominence in the story.The explanation of the courtroom process and procedures was interesting and helpful. The introduction of an element of criminal activity could also have been developed in order to create more suspense. I would recommend this book as worth reading and is a good read for those beginners to courtroom stories. show less

When I first read the book summary I wasn't sure I would enjoy a book where the main character suffered from depression, especially having personal experience of it. However, although it is part of the main character's back story it doesn't go into depth and focus on that aspect. I found the book to be very enjoyable and readable, I was eager to keep turning the pages to see where it was going. the characters were likeable and I warmed to them immediately, My only disappointment was that I felt that we could have gone a lot more into depth on getting to know them, and the book would not have lost its pace by taking a little more time to expand on the main characters. that is why I am giving 4 out of 5 stars. Looking forward to reading show more more of Al Macy's books in this series. show less