Hey, everyone. During the past few months, I’ve read several books. It’s been a while since I posted a review here, and I have several to share. Today I’ll share my reviews of two legal thrillers, both by authors I haven’t read before.
A Killer’s Wife by Victor Methos
This was the first book I’ve read by this author. The premise of the story sounded promising, so I decided to give it a try.
Federal prosecutor Jessica Yardley created a new life with her daughter after her husband went to prison for a series of brutal murders. She’s well-respected and good in her field. When two new homicides occur, the killer appears to be a copycat criminal of her now ex-husband.
FBI agent Cason Baldwin, with whom Jessica has a past relationship, enlists her help. He wants her to talk with the ex-husband in hopes the psychopathic killer will point them to the new murderer.
Numerous times I wanted to give up on this book. The author is in need of a good content editor. I got bogged down by the numerous repetitive words. Consider the following passage:
“Yardley stood outside the bedroom doors. Double doors, white with copper trim. She pictured Isaac in the morning opening both doors and what he must’ve seen. She took both knobs and pushed the doors open, the way a child might.”
Or this:
“Yardley knew she was lucky to be a federal prosecutor. The state prosecutors were overworked and had little time to help in any investigations or interviews. Federal prosecutors could pick and choose their cases and take all the time they needed. Whereas a state prosecutor might interview a victim once before a trial, Yardley could interview a victim ten times if she wanted. She could send the FBI to collect evidence she required and turn down cases she felt didn’t need to be prosecuted. As a state prosecutor, she wouldn’t have had the time to help Baldwin.”
Those are just two examples. I wouldn’t want to bore you with more of them. Another problem I had was the author’s use of the main character’s last name, which by the way, was repeated time and time again within a passage. Methos doesn’t seem to know how to use a pronoun.
Nonetheless, I kept reading. I guessed the killer’s identity early on (wasn’t difficult) but what did surprise me was Methos revealed the killer halfway into the book. Curious, I continued reading to see what he was going to do.
What follows is unbelievable. A federal prosecutor doing investigations, obtaining search warrants, and conducting the search herself without backup, and being allowed to prosecute a crime in which she had a personal involvement with the killer.
I also didn’t like the ending. Too many loose threads, which leads me to believe there will be a continuation of this story in the second book which is scheduled for release in 2021. I will not waste my time reading it.
I wavered between two and three stars for this one, finally selecting three because I won’t base ratings solely on personal preferences.
Legacy of Lies (Bochepus Haynes Book One) by Robert Bailey
Having been a fan of John Gresham for a number of years, I decided to give this author a try.
Disgraced attorney Bochephus Haynes returns to his home town of Pulaski, Tennessee to defend his friend, District Attorney Helen Lewis, who is accused of murdering her ex-husband. Crime and corruption know no bounds and this small-town setting is no exception.
While the book contains more scenes involving the investigation rather than the courtroom, it doesn’t make it any less of a legal thriller. The story is compelling, the action well-paced, and the characters well-developed.
And the ending? Well, let’s just say it was quite a surprise.
Although some reviewers were turned off by some of the backstory, not having read any of Bailey’s earlier series, I didn’t find this intrusive.
Legacy of Lies is the first of the Bocephus Haynes series, but could easily be read as a stand-alone novel. I look forward to the next book, scheduled for release in 2021.
Four stars for this one.
That’s it
Joan Hall 
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