Review by Booklist Review
The first edition of Breen's guide, published in 1984, annotated 421 examples of courtroom fiction. The new edition has almost 800 entries. All the earlier titles have been retained, and books by newer writers--including John Grisham, Steve Martini, Nancy Taylor Rosenberg, and Scott Turow--have been added. The cut-off date is 1997. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author. Besides standard bibliographic information, each entry includes a symbol indicating how much of the book's plot actually involves a trial (from less than a quarter to more than three-quarters, with a special designation for short stories) and a critical annotation. Most annotations are a paragraph in length (with some, such as that for Grisham's A Time to Kill, considerably longer) and focus on the effectiveness of the courtroom action. The first edition of the guide was praised for the excellence of Breen's annotations, and he is just as entertaining and informative here. Following the entries are a general index, a "Cause of Action Index" (with index terms ranging from abortion to wrongful dismissal), and a "Jurisdiction Index," which lists entries by state within the U.S. or by country. With the growth of this particular subgenre of mystery and detective fiction, Novel Verdicts seems much less specialized than it did when it first appeared more than 15 years ago, and libraries will find it a useful collection development and readers' advisory tool. (Reviewed May 1, 2000)
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
