Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow – this novel sits at number five on the list of The 100 Best Mystery novels, as compiled by the American Writers aka CWA and at fifty-four on the British version of the same Best 100 - 9 out of 10

 

Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow – this novel sits at number five on the list of The 100 Best Mystery novels, as compiled by the American Writers aka CWA and at fifty-four on the British version of the same Best 100

 

9 out of 10

 

The American writers of mystery novels have placed this among the top five best detective books, and we can see why – the British writers association has selected this for the marvelous 100, though they see it as holding the number fifty-four slot – it is a very entertaining read, crucial for the under signed, you finish fast

 

Carolyn Polhemus is (better said was) an assistant prosecuting attorney, and she is found killed, hit on the head, after having intercourse, a consensual act, the detectives are able to take fluids that show the use of some substance that is a spermicide (if I remember well) and then a glass with finger prints on it, a quintessential piece of evidence

These proofs will have a complicated presence, or absence in the court, but I am getting ahead of myself, somehow, Rožat "Rusty" Sabich, another prosecutor, colleague of the deceased (and former lover, we will soon find out) is assigned to the case, and he is also the narrator, and will be the one telling us what happens

 

In Get Shorty https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/get-shorty-by-elmore-leonard-aka.html a wonderful work by Elmore Leonard, we have the splendid character called Chili Palmer aka perfect John Travolta in the movie adaptation, who is a loan shark, and says he ‘is the one telling you the way it is’ when asked who he is…

After some speculation, we see that Rusty has had an intense affair with the deceased, though he is married to Barbara, and they have a son – to introduce a spoiler alert, Barbara will be essential in this challenging murder mystery – and the fact that he handles the case is a conflict of interest, only it is not public knowledge

 

With hindsight, we know why he takes some steps that appear more than controversial, regarding the phone records, for instance, he says that the investigation should not look at his own conversations with the victim – they collect from the phone company, the record of the numbers which had more than three calls with Carolyn

Quite soon in the book, the prosecutor in charge is in fact…accused of the murder, they had had a love affair, the woman dumped him, and in revenge, out of jealousy, he just kills her, and the evidence: the prints on a glass found in the apartment belong to the accused, the phone records show calls, he is the type according to analysis

The autopsy shows that the attacker who had tied the victim was a secreter, the blood type matches the one that Rusty has, then they have some other circumstantial evidence, for a while I was thinking of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-murder-of-roger-ackroyd-by-agatha.html

 

In this mystery classic – included on the best books lists – the doctor is the narrator, and the one who is called to offer assistance, look at the body, and he reveals near the end that he is also…the killer, and I was thinking that maybe we have this sort of surprise, where the prosecutor did kill the woman he obsessed about

There is corruption, politics, and we have this excellent read, because aside from the murder mystery, we have a good look at the psychology of the personages involved, sometimes the gruesome acts committed by psychopaths, in one case, this mother hurts her son, she puts her boy’s head in a vice, and nearly kills him

 

The dead woman was in fact very ambitious, she only saw Rusty as a means to an end, an instrument to use in her climb up the ladder, while he is so infatuated he cries in pain – he tells his wife, and the latter is so infuriated that she will take action, Barbara is actually quite mental, she is not well in the head and it shows

On the other hand, I have read in one of the psychology classics, maybe The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work https://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-seven-principles-of-making-marriage.html by the ultimate expert on marital issues, John Gottman, that there is a fallacy, a myth regarding affairs, that end marriages

 

Actually, it is not the lover who destroys the marital vows, when one has an affair, it is because the connection had already decayed, the cheating is not the cause, it is a symptom…John Gottman has an accuracy rate of over ninety percent, and his book is really worth reading, to avoid the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, if for no other reason

The prosecution does quite a few mistakes in the case against Rusty, one of the most blatant was the way the coroner handled the autopsy and the alleged evidence, but there is another, unexpected twist, there is a spoiler alert above, the defense finds that the deceased had had her tubes tied, so that she could not get pregnant again

 

Therefore, the notion that she would use spermicide, some such drugs, or substance is preposterous – and yet, there is some unsuspected person involved in setting up the scene, unaware of the surgery, the condition of the victim – and the coroner is humiliated when he is under oath, testifying for the prosecution…

Then there is the absent glass with the fingerprints, that would show up, only after the trail is finished, when we are told who was the killer – I must say that I suspected who it is, a little before the big announcement…

 

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”