just didn't do anything for me.

Henrietta Joyce and her family are still recovering from her sister's trial as a victim of kidnap and abuse which led to her suicide. Marianne Shearer, the defending attorney, of the assailant, Rick Boyd, has apparently just committed suicide. Fellow attorneys, Thomas and Peter investigate the death.

Multiple mysteries and intrigues are layered into the narrative surrounding both the trial and attorney suicide, yet the author does a remarkable job of bringing a sense of closure and tying up major loose ends.

There is some graphically described violence that may not be suitable for all readers, but it is no more, and in some cases less, than certain graphic novels/comics. It is also not done for the sake of gore but for the sake of the story and portrayal of the plot/characters.

Intense descriptions of items, scenery, thoughts, etc go into much of the narrative allowing for an understanding of the character whose point of view the story is currently being told from. The story is told from multiple points of view, yet there are no awkward shifts between characters or places. The narrative is free flowing, expressive, with drama, action, much emotion, and heart.

Overall, a compelling read. ( )

BLOOD FROM STONE is the story of a repugnant man, his equally repugnant lawyer and the people whose lives the pair impact. In a non-linear (but very readable) way a story of domestic horror unfolds in which Rick Boyd has caused such physical and psychological harm to his partner that she must be rescued by her sister and is eventually charged (I was never sure what with…rape? assault? kidnapping?). He is ably – too ably – represented by Marianne Shearer, a lawyer so determined to win that she welcomes the opportunity to bully and demean anyone who gets in her way. Soon after her win (and this is not a spoiler as it happens in the opening pages of the book) Marianne falls from the window of a London hotel and dies. There appears to be little doubt it was suicide but for the fact that Marianne seems the unlikliest of people to take such an action.

It’s a couple of days since I finished this book and I’m still not sure how I feel about it: It did make for compelling reading (or listening in my case) but there are some things about it that don’t quite gel. And then there’s the whole ‘the justice system is broken’ thing that can be guaranteed to make me squirm, though to be fair to the author that’s a reality that I can’t blame her for.

Fyfield has used a combination of trial transcript extracts and narrative sequences from several different points of view to reveal this complex story and she juggles all of these elements with aplomb. A less assured author would have left the reader floundering with the rapid changes. And the story itself is largely believable,slowly revealing all the tiny factors that led to the horrific outcome for so many people. The fact that the so-called justice system fails miserably in failing to convict Rick Boyd due solely to the shenanigans of his high-priced lawyer rather than points of law is, also, believable in the context that Fyfield creates (though if I’m honest she didn’t have to do a lot of convincing in my case).

Where the novel wasn’t quite as successful for me was in the characterisations and this is only partly due to the fact that most of the people we meet (even the good guys) aren’t terribly likable. Rick Boyd’s brand of repugnant psychopathy is credible enough to start with – plenty of people manipulate those around them and take advantage of people’s weaknesses – but the speed with which he seems to be able to bend people to his will became incredible to me when he met his lawyer’s brother (and sole heir) after her death. Marianne too doesn’t quite ring true. Frankly I doubt you could be a successful lawyer using the sort of appalling language and harassment she supposedly uses in the courtroom and I found the coincidence that led to her change of heart awkward and unconvincing (and unnecessary, the change of heart could have happened without this particular layer) (and yes I realise that sentence is a bit obtuse but I don’t want to give away any spoilers).

On the other hand I thought Fyfield was successful in depicting a person with two personas very different from each other, as perhaps many of us are. We discover that when not being a ruthless lawyer Marianne is a lover of vintage designer clothes and that her main intimate relationship is with a man who shares this love of fine things and the pair have created man rituals around this interest. The person who discovers this is Hen Joyce, sister of the woman who Rick Boyd assaulted and herself a lover of vintage clothing (in fact she works as restorer of them), and for me she is the most successful characterisation of the novel. Her internal conflict over what has happened to her sister and whether she stepped in at the right time seemed very natural, as did her confusion over how to respond to what she learns about Marianne’s personality after her death (versus what learned of it when being questioned by her as part of the trial).

In the end I would recommend the novel (and as it won the 2008 CWA Duncan Lawrie Award for best crime novel of the year) as I thought the structure and plot construction first rate and some elements of the character development were also well done. Well worth a read if you like novels which tease out psychological themes and make the reader work a little (or wait a while) for such satisfactory justice as they’ll be allowed.

BLOOD FROM STONE was chosen for discussion by my face-to-face book group. It was also the winner of the 2008 Duncan Lawrie award for Crime Writers Association best novel of the year.

Apart from the enthralling story, the novel raises some ethical questions about defendants who are allowed to walk free because their lawyer was clever, not because they were innocent.

It is hard to imagine anyone more evil than the Defendant, Rick West. There was plenty of evidence of previous instances where he had mistreated women. But two previous victims were not available to give evidence and then Marianne Shearer caustically and methodically destroyed the victim in the witness box. But Rick West didn't get his day in court because the case was dismissed when the victim died. And more than anything he wanted his innocence declared. Is this justice?

When things become personal Marianne Shearer realises the truth of what she has done and she can see only one way out.

I realised the "truth" about 2/3 of the way through the novel but that didn't limit my enjoyment. ( )

Frances Fyfield, a attorney in England, has written a long list of novels but this one is my own itroduction to her work. It won't be the last one I read; I'm very impressed with her style, her characters, and her plot.

This is quite a mystery. You learn a little at a time about the background of the lawyer who has jumped from a hotel balcony in a bright red skirt, She had recently successfully defended a man accused of rape, torture, and kidnapping. Unfortunately, his victim had been so destroyed by him and his lawyer that she committed suicide during the trial. Afterward, the lawyer threatened to write a book telling the whole truth. Her client was a horrible man, guilty as sin, who needed to find and destroy any information she had.

You meet her sister and parents and many other characters that you begin to feel you've known forever. The sister, Henrietta, is called Hen. She knows more about fabrics and fashion than anyone and makes her living sewing, designing and/or redesigning clothes, and cleaning stains from them. She loves to take a still serviceable but outdated garment and make another out of it. She tried to save her sister Angel but was unable to.

Descriptions of places, Hen's living quarters, a museum, the parents' home, and a, for lack of a better term, love nest are fascinating. Having said that, I do believe that you will either fall under the spell and love this book, or find it much too slow.

The bad guy in this story is one of the most truly evil villains I've ever read about. Thinking of him still gives me the creeps. I guess it's kind of a delicious creepiness.

E-book
Recommended
Source: Publisher via Partners in Crime Book Tours ( )