The Jury Must Die

This Mallory story is dominated, from page one, by Detective Riker. Poor Riker got shot by a punk who had been released on a technicality. He is on furlough, traumatized by his ordeal. He fears that the man stalking him may be the punk alive, even though Mallory proudly presented him with pictures of the punk dead. He is minding a relative's forensic cleaning service. He is following in love with a woman who has started working for the company, a woman who used to be a psychologist - and once was the member of a jury that inexplicably freed a celebrity accused of murder - a jury whose members are having their throats slit, one by one. This is a rather tense Mallory adventure that ends of course with Riker losing his love, but in a way show more that is convincing and satisfying. O'Connell, as usual, writes a good thriller and a good literary novel at the same time. She is usually better at ending the latter than the former but she does well with both endings here. show less

O'Connell's New York at its grim best. Riker's on leave and Mallory's working alone, albeit while stalking Riker. Someone else is stalking and killing the members of an infamous jury, who've been driven into hiding. A shock jock is egging the killer on. That's just one of the layers. As usual, the twisted details of a sophisticated cat and mouse game serve to illustrate grander themes: this time O'Connell explores bonds among the alienated, the physical and emotional scars of violence, the perversity of a modern world where no one is anonymous and the limits of a doctor's professional obligation. We learn the lengths Mallory will go to in order to preserve her relationships, few and precious, and to protect those dear to her cold little show more heart. This one is devastating. But that's nothing new. show less

This book is one of a series of books by Carol O'Connell about a beautiful, damaged, maverick, and almost sociopathic detective named Kathleen Mallory (who insists on being called simply "Mallory"), and the people that love her despite her flaws: Charles, an intelligent, rich, but ugly family friend; Lou, the cop that takes her in; and Riker, her adopted father's partner. The relationships that develop between these characters as they solve crimes together are the focus of the series.

This story (the seventh in the series), has Mallory on her own, investigating the murders of members of a jury. The story is interesting and multi-layered, as are all of the Mallory stories.

A simple story, exceedingly complicated perhaps with the goal of creating some suspence. I would have prefered a less cryptic approach, giving that the characters had enough interesting features of their own, not developed as they would have deserved in my opinion. On the contrary, I find that the author has given too much emphasis on issues such as police procedures, relations between local police and fbi,... I have found those parts so boring!

No. 7 in the Kathleen Mallory series.

The world of shock jocks is put under the microscope in this story, and the view isn’t pleasant. A celebrity shock jock is egging on his viewers to discover the whereabouts of the remaining jurors in his trial, one in which he was acquitted of murder; when uncovered, these former jurors wind up murdered. Seemingly unrelated, a hunchbacked psychiatrist works for Riker at his brother’s crime scene cleanup business. Mallory, who refuses to accept Riker’s acceptance of a disability dismissal from the New York police force, does everything in her considerable power to shock him back into action.

These are some of the elements in the plot, which is excellent. I really like the way O’Connell develops show more the plot and ties together the story as a whole. Her writing is excellent.

The only quibble I have with this book is Mallory herself. I have no problem with Mallory being a gainfully employed sociopath, but she is a little too over the top in terms of her ability to plot five moves ahead. Given the complexity of the situations she’s dealing with, she makes Bobby Fischer look like a cretin.

But this is a better than usual police procedural. I'd like to read more of this series.

Highly recommended. show less

This Mallory book was hard to get into at first. It seemed unrecognizable as a Mallory book for several chapters, but I stuck with it. About halfway through, it changed back to the Mallory rhythm we all know, and it went quickly after that. I think it might have been because its focus was on Riker, more than Mallory, and the unfolding of the way in which the Johanna Apollo character was going to impact his life. For those of you who are unhappy with this book, keep with it, and you will get the pay off in the end.

One of my favorite series. This is where O'Connell really shone, with a protagonist and characters who were both sympathetic and adversarial. I'm looking forward to going back and re-reading all of her Kathleen Mallory stories. They are exceptional.

My personal favorite of the Mallory series, even though Ms. O'Connell decided not to bring back in future stories what I thought could have been a strong, very interesting character, with great appeal!