Speak No Evil - Hardcover

Krich, Rochelle Majer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892965843 ISBN 13: 9780892965847

Publisher: Mysterious Press, 1996

Synopsis

Murder is always heinous, but when two Los Angeles women attorneys are found dead with their tongues cut out, it's downright gruesome. And for criminal defense attorney Debra Laslow the killings are even more horrifying ... because she's suspected of doing them. The daughter of an Orthodox rabbi, Debra treads a fine line between her moral beliefs and the dictates of the law. Often she consults with her father about any possible conflicts between her job and her religion, and the Talmud usually provides an interesting, if not always easy, answer. Now Debra's defending a doctor accused of date rape by his receptionist. Although Debra believes the doctor's innocent, the young woman she will cross-examine - and possibly humiliate in open court - belongs to her close-knit Orthodox community. She may even ruin the woman's chances of marriage. And if the doctor is guilty and Debra wins the case, she'll be responsible for an even crueler injustice.

About this title

Reviews

As with her last book, Angel of Death, Krich loads her mystery with a message, but this time she does a better job of lowering the polemical volume while maintaining a taut narrative. For Debra Laslow, a lawyer with a private firm, being required to defend a man accused of rape?even one as respectable as Beverly Hills internist Kenneth Avedon?makes her uneasy. With good reason: Avedon's first lawyer was shot and her tongue severed?an event that becomes even more unnerving when three more lawyers meet the same fate and Debra receives anonymous warnings to "Get out of the way of Justice." She gets little sympathy from Homicide Detective Marty Simms, who despises rapists and their attorneys. To make things worse, the woman Avedon is accused of raping is, like Debra, an Orthodox Jew whose life will be difficult indeed if Debra wins the case. Since the dead lawyers apparently knew their murderer, Debra becomes increasingly fearful of those around her. By the time it's all over, Debra's life has changed, and Krich has effectively charted her earnest heroine's struggle to find a path that satisfies both the demands of her private morality and her professional obligations.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Krich quickly pulls together all the elements of a superior mystery. She establishes conflict, provides a murder victim, and then demonstrates heroine Debra Laslow's connection to the murder. Successful LA attorney Laslow is horrified after fellow attorney Madeline is mutilated. When her best friend Susan, also an attorney, meets the same fate, the tragedy hits home. Further elements contribute to Krich's solid foundation: Laslow's orthodox Jewish behavior, her involvement in a rape case, and sexual harassment at work. A well-written and entertaining addition for most collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892965843
• ISBN 13: 9780892965847
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416