Review By Gabrielle
Proof by Beverley McLachlin is a high-stakes mystery told from a defence attorney’s perspective.
Favourite Quote:
“But now, she’s gone. Ms Truitt, you have to help me get her back.”
My tiny daughter’s face fills my mind, and the thought of losing her immobilizes me. And then my professional muscle memory kicks in. At times like this, you have to give the client hope.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Jilly Truitt has always put her job as a criminal defense lawyer first, but becoming a new mother has changed her priorities. For the first time in her career, she’s taking some long-overdue time away from her firm and the day-to-day grind of cases, enjoying the quiet delights of motherhood.
Then the daughter of celebrity pop star Trist Jones goes missing and his ex-wife, Kate, is charged with kidnapping. Everyone from the police to the media believe Kate is guilty—her reputation was ripped to shreds in the tabloids during their divorce and subsequent custody battle. Call it mother’s intuition, but Jilly has her doubts. Kate’s whole life was about being a mother, and she and Trist were very public about their problems conceiving, shining a spotlight on their use of a surrogate. After everything she went through to have a child, Kate claims that she would never do anything to hurt her daughter, and she begs Jilly to take her case.
Jilly agrees, but Kate’s prospects don’t look good. Police have found a witness who says he saw Kate with Tess the afternoon she disappeared, and they are close to giving up the search. The best chance Jilly has of clearing Kate’s name is to find the missing girl. But as the weeks go by, the police begin to suspect that Tess might be dead. With the threat of a murder charge hanging over Kate’s head, Jilly must find the real kidnapper and save Tess before it’s too late.
When this book came to us in the mail, I was excited. I am new to Beverley McLauchlin’s writing, and as the former Chief of Justice for Canada (the first woman to hold that position), I knew she’d have an interesting perspective. I wasn’t wrong.
Most thrillers are written from the point of view of those capturing the killer. Just think of how many police procedurals there are out there, but this one flips the script, and we follow defence attorney Jilly Truitt instead. This is the third book in the Jilly Truitt series, but don’t worry if you haven’t read the previous ones like me; you won’t feel lost. Beverley does a good job of catching readers up on her overall storyline. I liked Jilly. She’s smart and cares about her clients and the justice system. A lot of the book is about Jilly and how she struggles to find a balance as a new mom. She gets called back to work before she is totally ready and quickly finds herself wrapped up in the case. This felt very relatable to me; I think a lot of moms struggle when they return to work. They feel guilty for being away from their child and guiltier still if they love their work; such is the case with Jilly. The juxtaposition of Jilly’s first case back is about a missing child amped up this conflict for her character, and I enjoyed that tension.
The pace of this book is a bit slower; it is not the pulse-pounding thriller I was expecting. With a child missing, I wanted a greater sense of urgency. Overall, the mystery of this story is alright. It’s fairly predictable if I’m being honest, but solid. The best part about it for me was watching how much influence the police and the media had on the case. So quickly, the police make up their minds about what happened to Tess, and the media are just as quick to blame Jilly’s client, Kate (Tess’ mom). She gets absolutely ravaged in the headlines, making it hard for Jilly to defend her.
One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is how passionate Jilly is about her job. As a defence attorney, she’s often criticized and questioned. How can she defend people who have done horrible things? There is a good commentary here about how the justice system is supposed to work that it requires balance on both sides. That people are innocent until proven guilty. That defendants have rights. For the sake of fiction, some things are idealized quite a bit; for example, Jilly takes Katie’s case pro bono, which would never happen in real life, but I was happy to see a few key details that highlight some of the antics that do actually happen. The single-mindedness of the police investigation, the Crown is waiting until the last minute to send full disclosure of their case to the defence. These things show some of the weaknesses of our justice system, and I was glad to see Beverley didn’t shy away from including them.
Overall, it is a solid read for those who like more character-driven mystery.
Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
