Lisa Black capably combines a serial killing spree with an older mystery which threatens disastrous personal consequences for forensic scientist Theresa MacLean.
In Defensive Wounds, someone has taken Shakespeare’s theatrical admonition by a villain to “kill all the lawyers” to heart, terrifying a convention's worth of attorneys in a field that requires close contact with convicted criminals and unhappy citizens.
Defense Attorneys Part of Killing Spree
Marie Corrigan, an unusually gorgeous and brilliant defense attorney is found murdered in Cleveland’s upscale Ritz-Carlton during a legal convention. Corrigan’s outer beauty was matched in spades by her ruthless competitive streak and questionable ethics, angering victims’ families, police officers and expert science-based witnesses like Theresa almost on a daily basis.
While the police and related forensic departments search for her killer, it’s an open secret that mourners for Corrigan will be hard to find while suspects abound.
Forensic Science in Cleveland
When another defense attorney dies during the convention, murder seems much more personal even while the second death raises eyebrows about the secret habits of high powered defense attorneys in their personal lives.
Through all the speculation and amidst the plethora of possible suspects (or potential victims), Theresa collects evidence while bonding with her cousin Frank, a guarded detective, and Neil Kelly, a fairly new transplant who has also been assigned to the case.
Each had professional experience with Corrigan, giving them unwanted insight into possible suspects and probably motives for her death although the second murder appears more baffling since he had only recently returned to Cleveland.
Theresa’s daughter Rachael also plays a key role, thanks to her own quest for independence and resulting coincidental relationship with the luxury hotel. While Theresa would rather have her daughter far away from the murder scene, Rachael proves just as stubborn as her mother.
Trail of Blood
Readers fond of Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan (seen also on the television series Bones) and Aaron Elkins’ books featuring “Skeleton Detective” Gideon Oliver should add the Theresa MacLean series to their reading selections.
Like the earlier Trail of Blood, the well-written Defensive Wounds concentrates on the forensic evidence while exploring the truth behind high-publicized “gotcha” methods routinely used on television crime dramas. Theresa MacLean remains genuinely likeable and relatable in her roles as a single concerned mother juggling a time-consuming job that just happens to involve catching killers.
Publishing Information
Black, Lisa. Defensive Wounds. New York, NY: William Morrow, 2011.
Bonnye Good - Bonnye Busbice Good received an Editor's Choice award for her article on Your Historic Home's Interior Design Secrets and has also written ...
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