The Judge

A solid effort by Martini. Paul Madriani working WITH Acosta, his nemesis, didn't exactly ring true with me. Very little conflict in getting there - almost a fait accompli. Plus the idea of disturbing a potential crime scene (as an officer of the court) was ludicrous. Other than that, it was typical Martini --- good surprise ending, but not so good as Undue Influence.

When Judge Acosta is caught with a hooker, few are sympathetic. It seems to be a setup, though, and when the girl is brutally killed and Acosta charged, defence lawyer Madriani begins the most complex murder trial of his career, uncovering ugly lies, deceit and corruption.

Wow, the first three reviews here on Librarything were a complete surprise! I read the book before looking at them. Thank goodness!

Present tense didn't bother me. I've read quite a few of Martini's courtroom thrillers so I was familiar with the characters. Can't say that I "care about" characters in anybody's book beyond their use to advance the story and plot. And Martini is a master at plotting and telling a suspenseful story. At least in my mystery lover's opinion.

The Judge is typical Martini. Legal wrangling with attorney Paul Madriani and his associate Harry Hinds seemingly behind the eight-ball right up to the last few pages. Then a clever deduction turns everything around, producing a big finish that exonerates Madriani's client. show more I've enjoyed them all. show less

Not as clean as a Tourot or Grisham, but still entertaining. To me, Grisham develops a story line beautifully, and you don't have to suspend reality, with the story line being carefully constructed and developed, all very believable. In the Judge, there were a few, albeit very few, times where I felt myself feeling, "well that's not very likely". But those times weren't enough to interfere with the story, and it was still an enjoyable legal thriller.

I wanted Madriani to fail in a way because Acosta was so unlikable. He wasn’t the only one though. The district Attorney whose name escapes me, was also an asshole. When he fired Lenore for no reason, she shouldn’t have gone to the victim’s apartment. What she did there, affected Paul’s case for the worse. She took a note off the victim’s calendar that if it were left alone, might have shed some doubt on whether Acosta was the last one to see her alive or not. Also, she left a thumbprint on the doorframe that couldn’t easily be explained.

There were unexpected things – like when the cops sent a guy disguised as a cable guy into Paul’s house to plant drugs and the horrific scene that ensued when the rest of the cops barged show more in and then found nothing. They beat the hell out of Paul and Lenore before the ‘beat cops’ showed up and broke things up. The DA claimed he knew nothing.

There were predictable elements, too. Like when the victim’s now orphaned child was in court ‘feeding’ her teddy bear buttons and other small things. I knew that there was some important evidence in that bear. Probably the piece of jewelry that left the gash in the coffee table. And of course, it was. Paul and the DA figured it out at the same time.

The met in the court house after hours. Paul was there illegally but the DA wasn’t. They fought. There was a chase and Lenore, to whom Paul passed the initialed cufflink, threw an earring at the DA as a diversion. The DA killed the girl because – I can’t remember. show less

I got to page 100 when I realized that I didn't care what happened to any of the characters. (So I didn't finish it.)

mediocre story, drags a bit, telegraphs some of the key plot points a bit early.