From Publishers Weekly
Despite its sleepy appearance, the tiny hamlet of El Nido, Calif., harbors terrible secrets. As Siegel's second thriller featuring attorney Greg Monarch (after The Perfect Witness) begins, El Nido resident Sarah Trant has been sitting on death row for five years, convicted by a jury of townsfolk on the basis of very shaky evidence. Monarch, who lives in the nearby town of La Graciosa and was formerly Trant's lover, agrees to handle her appeal, though he knows Trant has a history of mental instability. Upon arriving in El Nido, he gets a frosty reception. The district attorney won't help with even the most basic information, the sheriff is downright hostile and Trant's former attorney refuses to take his calls. Monarch pushes on, eventually discovering aspects of the case that were covered up the first time around. These include the fact that the testimony clinching Trant's convictionAa dying declaration from the victim identifying Trant as the killerAis patently false; the dying man's throat was cut all the way to the spine. Monarch figures the key to the case is the victim, Brewster Tomaz, an elderly geologist who had been working for an oil company that wanted to build a huge health spa on its now dry fields. Trant, who vehemently opposed the health spa plan, had clashed with Tomaz several times in the past, but so had many others, including people with knowledge of one of El Nido's even bigger secrets. Though some of the plot turns are predictable, Siegel beautifully captures the flavor of scandal in a small communityAthe knowing looks, the awkward silences, the amateur attempts at coverup. The novel ends, appropriately, not with big-city drama, but with a quiet, small-town America nod-nod-wink-wink deal. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Library Journal
California attorney Greg Monarch is back (after The Perfect Witness), and this time out he's helping old girlfriend Sarah Trant in her last-ditch efforts to avoid execution. Sarah is claiming "actual innocence" as her final defense, saying that she was framed for the murder of old Brewster Tomaz, that she didn't cut his throat and leave him dead in El Nido Creek. Greg's investigation turns up not only flagrant trial misconduct by the prosecution but also a dark tangle of lies and twisted relationships that have pushed the citizens of seemingly peaceful El Nido Valley into a conspiracy of silence. And when Sarah's original defense lawyer suddenly dies of a mysterious illness, Greg begins to realize just how dangerous his investigation is. Crime reporter Siegel has again crafted a thriller filled with a wealth of legal detail and realistic characters that will appeal to Phillip Margolin fans. Highly recommended.ARebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Lib., Hammond, IN
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
