Review: Guilt by Association (Rachel Knight #1) by Marcia Clark

Print Length: 373 pages

Publisher: Mulholland Books (April 20, 2011)

From Goodreads.com:  Los Angeles D.A. Rachel Knight is a tenacious, wise-cracking, and fiercely intelligent prosecutor in the city's most elite division. When her colleague, Jake, is found dead at a grisly crime scene, Rachel is shaken to the core. She must take over his toughest case: the assault of a young woman from a prominent family.

But she can't stop herself from digging deeper into Jake's death, a decision that exposes a world of power and violence and will have her risking her reputation--and her life--to find the truth.

With her tremendous expertise in the nuances of L.A. courts and crime, and with a vibrant ensemble cast of characters, Marcia Clark combines intimate detail, riotous humor, and visceral action in a debut thriller that marks the launch of a major new figure on the crime-writing scene.

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 My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

My Review: Another novel with a solid and intriguing concept, that spends way too much time on details that don't need to be given. Much like her second in this series (which I actually read first), there is a lot of attention paid to what the characters are wearing, eating and drinking. Not to mention we have to hear Rachel's guilt over eating practically anything, and how much time she is going to have to spend in the gym to work it off. For some, this attention to detail may be just their cup of tea, but for me, I found it to take away from the overall plot, and become too mundane, and well, boring after awhile. I get it, you worry about your weight, I understand you had a really rough day at the office, but I don't want to hear about every little detail.  

When there was action, it was good. When there was a twist or a surprise, it was a good one. Unfortunately, these did not happen often enough in the story to really make it a page turner for me. 

I did find myself chuckling at one point, but not for the reasons you would probably expect. Rachel finds herself needing to get a good night's sleep, so after a glass of wine she takes her boring, "insomnia curing" murder mystery book to bed, and promptly fell asleep. I had to laugh, because I found myself using this novel for just that purpose. 


DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own. 

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Guilt by Association is available from Amazon.com