Very Simple Crime-Grant Jenkins

Very Simple Crime
Grant Jenkins
Berkley, Nov 2 2010, $14.00
ISBN: 9780425238301

Adam Lee married Rachel even knowing she was unstable, as the scars on her wrists affirm. After they marry, her mental state became worse as she was convinced Adam was cheating; she wrecked the car of someone flirting with her husband. They had a child, Albert who was mentally and physically behind his peers. At fourteen he was emotionally equivalent to a five year old and his intelligence also was that of a five year old. When he almost killed his mom, Albert was placed in an institution where he killed his roommate.

Albert resides in a high security private institution for hardcore cases. His father lives a life of quiet desperation. Many years later, Adam brings his adult son home, but goes away for a weekend with Violet Perkins. When he returns home, he finds his wife dead and their son has blood all over him. Disturbed for enabling a notorious child-killer going free, Assistant District Attorney Leo Hewitt sees this case as a chance for redemption. The circumstantial evidence points to Albert, but the ADA believes Adam killed his wife; the motive is ,in his opinion, to escape from a lunatic spouse. He arrests Adam for murdering his wife. Adam’s brother lawyer Monty defends his sibling, who has a few dead rabbits to pull out of his hat.

Told in the first person by Adam, A Very Simple Crime is a terrific legal thriller that grips the audience early on, but it is the latter twists that keep the reader alert for more. Starting with marrying mentally unstable Rachel because she is the only heir to her father’s multimillion dollar estate, Monty explains his brother does not always make good decisions but that does not make him a cold blooded killer. Grant Jenkins provides readers with a great chilling thriller.

Harriet Klausner