The Last Trial (McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers #3)

I have great sympathy for the author, being a cancer survivor myself, and having lost a greatly loved one to cancer. But the story, after a good beginning, degenerates into silliness about three quarters of the way through. The witness to the murder was sitting on the lap of her professor facing outwards having rough sex when she heard gunshots and then looked through an astronomy telescope to see the murderer 300 yards away. First, in my experiences with sex no one is capable of coitus interruptus and focussing on a telescope eyepiece, particularly an astronomical instrument with a very small field of view and presumably focussed on infinity, so blurred at 300 yards. Then a 65 year old woman, all muddy, staggers out of the woods and proceeds to offer to sell joints to two drunken college students. Way to stay inconspicuous. It just won\’t work, and a decent beginning bites the dust.

The Last Trial is the third book in the McMurtrie and Drake legal thriller series. Thomas Jackson McMurtrie is an attorney who spent several decades as a Professor of Evidence at the University of Alabama School of Law and who wrote the definitive textbook on Evidence for the State of Alabama. Then one or two of his former students turned on him and he was dismissed from the faculty of the law school. Once he was discharged, he returned to the practice of law with a former student, Rick Drake. They have had quite a bit of success as well as some close calls (be sure and read The Professor (book 1) and Between Black and White (book 2)) in that order. The Professor is in his 70s and about 28 months earlier had been successfully treated for bladder cancer. Because of his health issues and his age, he is encouraged to leave this case alone, especially since his partner has not worked for several months. After Wilma Newton is arrested, her 14 year-old daughter comes to see McMurtrie to ask him to represent her mother. Contrary to the advice of his family and friends, including the District Attorney and his investigator who are old friends of both McMurtrie and Drake, he cannot deny the child’s request. Shortly after undertaking representation of the “murder suspect,” Tom is walking his bulldog, Roy Lee, when the dog lunged for a squirrel, causing pain in Tom’s back. Believing he has a “slipped disc,” Tom refuses to see a doctor, even though his friend, who is a doctor, and his oncologist, have encouraged him to do so. Now a man from previous books, Jack Willistone, who was released from prison on May 8, 2012, has turned up dead, on May 9, 2012, on the banks of the Black Warrior River. Willistone is the father of an adult son with such severe autism who resides in a special facility, the son-in-law of the reputed “mob boss” of Alabama, and the insured on a $3,000,000.00 policy of life insurance. His wife is sole beneficiary. A gun registered to Ms. Newton, who spent a year in prison on prostitution charges arising from her relationship with the dead man, and which has only her fingerprints on it, is found near the body together with some shell casings. The gun and casings are linked to the gun so the woman is arrested for murder. The characters who accompany Tom, are Wilma, Wilma’s daughter Laurie Ann, Bocephus “Bo” Haynes, Rick Drake, Powell Conrad, the District Attorney, and Wade Richey, a police detective. Bo Haynes, a former student and good friend of Tom’s has had his license to practice law suspended so, he agrees to assist Tom as his investigator. Several months before the real work on Wilma Newton’s case begins, Rick’s father is killed in a hit and run accident, so Rick has been out of the office adjusting to the loss of his beloved father and helping his mother on her farm so he will be no assistance to Tom unless he can be encouraged to pitch in. This is a story of murder, a hired assassin, drugs, alcohol, greed, dishonesty, suspense, and twists and turns you won’t see coming, some of which will have you holding your breath. Robert Bailey is a master of writing legal thrillers, of helping his readers get to know his characters, and of making them human. I promise you, if you read The Professor and Between Black and White before you read The Last Trial you will need to have a box of tissues handy and if you read the Author’s Note at the end of the book you will wonder, as I did, how Robert Bailey could write this book. I guess he was just “minding his dad.”

This is Robert Bailey\’s 3rd book and in my opinion it is the best one . Some writers never learn and never become better . I am so anxious to receive the 4th and last of the series. Unfortunately, it will be a whole year before the book is released . I will very much miss all the characters. I have read many books in my life and have never felt this way prior to ROBERT BAILY. Thank you!!

“The Last Trial” by Robert Bailey is a very clever and well crafted story by attorney-author, Robert Bailey. This book was not my introduction to this author. I had read several others by him, and I’d regard this read as equally well done as “Between Black and White”, which I read previously and reported on, and, “The Professor”, which I read some time ago. I don’t re tell story lines in my reviews, but suffice it to say this book had all the elements I look for in a good Legal Thriller. First, the Plot kept me glued from page one to page last without wanting to stop reading. I simply needed to know “what happens next?” That element signifies great plot to me. Next, I look for Character Development to flesh out the protagonists (the “good” guys) and the antagonists (the “bad” guys”). Both are equally well developed here. As Mae West once said, “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.” Third, a good Legal Thriller must have a sustaining Rising Action, by which I mean credible Legal Procedure in which the Case study flows from Indictment to the Falling Action, which, most generally, is the Verdict. No question, the writer develops these elements very well. Anti-Climax in a Legal Thriller is a MUST. We all want to know, for example. “who shot John”. But its how the writer develops that scenario that puts the cherry on the top of the cake, so to speak, which will make or break the story line. Without touching a ***Spoiler Alert***, this book has a terrific anti- climax. I mean, I read a lot of this genre, given my legal background, and this one was one of the best I’ve encountered. I typically do not find the Resolution to be all that fulfilling. And must honestly admit the one in this book was its weakest element, in my view. Perhaps because the anti-climax was so strong, the ending came across as a bit maudlin. But then the author all but tells us this as witness to the title of the book. To anyone who likes Legal Thrillers, with all the elements they engender, this book stands out in excellent fashion. I definitely recommend the read as well worth the time spent. A read that easily scores a “5” rating in my estimation.

I have enjoyed all of this series, including this ‘last’ book. It held my attention throughout and it has the classic scenario of heroes, loveable rogues and villains. Without giving any spoilers, there is no doubt that the goodies will win but they have many scrapes and emerge battle-scarred, quite literally. As the series has progressed, there have been a number of increasingly far-fetched moments but this is fiction and entertainment so it leaves me smiling, rather as a James Bond story would. Recommended and I will always look forward to more from this author.

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