good read overall, a little slow starting out ( )

My project of reading a mystery set in each state of the Union continues, and I've recently completed the Arkansas book.

Part of my self-imposed rule was that I'd choose, in each state, an author new to me. So, in the case of Arkansas, I was forbidden from Charlaine Harris (and I've read just about all she's written anyway) and Joan Hess. Since their books are set in small towns, I decided to look for a book set in Little Rock, and my library had this one, the second in Grif Stockley's series about Little Rock lawyer Gideon Page.

As the book opens, Gideon Page is about to be downsized out of an associate's job in a personal injury law firm. He's also just received a phone call from a psychologist accused of murder who wants him as his defense attorney. (Page had previously been a public defender, apparently in the first volume of the series). After Page is let go, he goes to see the new client, even though technically he should have left him to his now-former firm. This is only the first of many episodes in Gideon's life which show us he is not always the man he should be, and knows it. He is continually falling short of his own and others' expectations of him.

The psychologist, who is African-American, has been charged with murder after a mentally retarded girl under his care dies while receiving shock treatment. The treatment, carried out with a cattle prod, is a kind of aversion therapy designed to stop the girl from constantly hitting herself. The psychologist and the girl's mother see it as a last resort to avoid the girl's being kept in restraints for the rest of her life. The county prosecutor, a woman with some similarities to Hillary Clinton, thinks otherwise.

As Gideon shepherds his difficult client through the various hearings on the way to trial, he attempts to do some investigating himself, and comes to some surprising conclusions, which are most unwelcome to his client.

Meanwhile, he is also learning how to be a struggling solo practitioner, raising a bright teenage daughter who worries about him, grieving his several-years-dead wife while sorting out his feelings for his best friend/almost lover Rainey, dating, and dealing with middle-aged ailments. (There's a bit more detail about these than I would have thought necessary; and Stockley has the all-too-common trait of male writers, excessive description of urination.)

Probable Cause wasn't actually what I'd call a mystery. There is some doubt about whether a crime was even committed (hence the title). The case comes to trial, and the trial concludes, but it seems that neither the reader nor the characters are any the wiser at the end. For that reason, I wouldn't rate the plot very highly.

Stockley did much better at characterization. As unappealing as Gideon Page is, he is a very believable character. Even very minor characters come alive in Mr. Stockley's work, which is why I kept reading to the end of the book.

Setting is quite important to my enjoyment of a mystery (or any work of fiction), and indeed, the desire to experience many different settings was the reason I started this A Mystery for Every State project. Sadly, I know very little more of Little Rock now than I did before I began reading the book. It's hellishly hot and humid in summer, there are still some racists to be found in the populace, and, oh yes -- Little Rockians seem to consume an inordinate amount of frozen yogurt. Apart from the yogurt, this was nothing I didn't know before. Mr. Stockley doesn't communicate any particular love for the city or the state, and it's hard to figure out why his protagonist even stays there.

In fairness, I must admit that courtroom dramas or legal thrillers are not my preferred reading fare, and this may have influenced my judgment. Those who do like such books might enjoy this one more than I did, and I did feel that Mr. Stockley's skill at character portrayal made the book much better than it might otherwise have been. ( )