The Murder List

By Hank Phillippi Ryan

Goodreads Synopsis

“Law student Rachel North will tell you, without hesitation, what she knows to be true. She’s smart, she’s a hard worker, she does the right thing, she’s successfully married to a faithful and devoted husband, a lion of Boston’s defense bar, and her internship with the Boston DA’s office is her ticket to a successful future.

Problem is–she’s wrong.
And in this cat and mouse game–the battle for justice becomes a battle for survival.” (Goodreads)

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My Take

Character Connection

The Murder List jumps between the points of view of three main players – Rachel North, Jack Kirkland, and Martha Gardiner. I would consider Rachel our main protagonist as the story line seems to focus around her life over the past six years. As much as I wanted to connect with the characters, they just weren’t likable. I didn’t find myself rooting for any of them to be the “good guy” or to win the case.

Twisty-Turns

This book really TRIED to be twisty – it just felt forced and ended up falling flat for me.  It jumped back and forth between present day and occurrences six-years prior and fluctuated between multiple POVs (often multiple times within a chapter). For me, there was no “big reveal” – I guessed whodunit pretty early on and was just left waiting for how it would finally be revealed to the reader.

Psych-Links

You could probably force a diagnosis or two into the plot but it would be a stretch.  No real psychological connections were made to drive the story further.

Cine-ability

Everyone seems to love a good Law and Order series – so that is how I picture The Murder List.  Our main characters are all lawyers so the episodes would be courtroom heavy.  I feel like it could work with alternating timelines and perspectives, maybe each episode featuring different POVs or time periods – you would have to streamline it to make it less confusing for the viewer.  If it was made – here’s my cast:

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The Merry Murderino’s Overall Rating

Average Goodreads rating is 3.66, so I don’t feel too far off.  This one just didn’t grab me and I felt like it dragged on when I was hoping for a faster pace. I also like to feel connected to at least one character and when none are likable it makes for a book that seems like a chore to read.  I did enjoy the courtroom back and forth and the brief inside-looks of jury procedure and evidence discovery.  If you enjoy courtroom drama, you may enjoy this one more than I did. Overall, it wasn’t terrible but it also wasn’t great in my opinion.

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