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JURY MUST DIE, THE
by Carol O'Connell
Hurchinson, October 2003
325 pages
9.99 GBP
ISBN: 0091799775


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Carol O'Connell came late to writing fiction. An artist, she had relied on that profession as well as copy editing and proofreading to earn a living until she made her amazing debut into crime fiction with Mallory's Oracle almost a decade ago. Since then the author has departed from the Mallory series in only one book, Judas Child. Her complete (so far!) bibliography comprises :Shell Game, Judas Child, Flight of the Stone Angel ,Killing Critics, Mallory's Oracle, Man Who Lied to Women and Crime School. It is reasonable to say that O'Connell's career has not looked back since Kathy Mallory's birth.

Although some readers immediately took to Mallory, to me she was something of an acquired taste - streetwise, consorting with prostitutes and criminals, a witness to horrific scenes on the street, a complete sociopath yet intelligent and an accomplished detective (as well as an accomplished liar). When the author permits, Mallory rouses the protective instinct in the reader. Who could be completely immune to a waif with such a sad history? In adulthood, however, Mallory spurns any softer feelings, refusing to answer to her given name of Kathy. She insists on being addressed as Mallory or Detective Mallory by all and sundry, even her friends from childhood.

The Jury Must Die is a cruel book, even for Carol O'Connell. A 'shock jock', a most unpleasant Englishman, Ian Zachary, has a most unpleasant radio show. A murderer has achieved an acquittal from a jury and now a mystery man known as The Reaper is busily seeking to punish the misguided jurors by killing them. Various of them have been placed in an FBI Witness Protection scheme but even an FBI agent has been murdered by the Reaper. Zachary has taken it upon himself to increase the popularity of his radio program by inviting New Yorkers to dob in any jurors they see in their vicinity, offering prizes in his macabre 'game'. Johanna Apollo, a hunchback has taken up employment as a crime scene cleaner, working for Detective Sergeant Riker. Riker, is on sick leave from his police work after having been grievously wounded, both psychologically and physically when shot four times in the chest, is looking after his brother's cleaning business whilst his brother is overseas. Johanna has hidden her real identity from Riker who is in further acute danger - this time of falling in love.

Mallory takes it upon herself to protect Riker as well as the surviving jurors from the ominous Reaper. Zachary hires a private security firm, so he believes, to take care of his interests while he pursues his own private games of driving his sound engineer out of her mind as well as discovering the identity of his unseen producer, the mysterious Needleman. A truly lovable character, this radio personality.

Johanna Apollo has a pet, a psychotic cat named Mugs. He plays a vital role in this plot. It would be too much to hope that the author would create a more conventional, likable minor personality, but even Mugs can draw tears of pity, much as does Mallory herself, from the reading audience. The cast includes a seedy FBI agent as well as the usual police of the New York department to leaven the whole mix.

Once again, O'Connell's imagination has conjured up a tale brim full of danger and fast paced action. To my mind, however, her writing is flawed. At times she seems to cut corners and expect her readers to overlook a certain clumsiness - or should one simply dub it unorthodoxy? - in her writing. Why, for example, does she constantly refer to Mallory as 'the police' instead of 'policewoman' or even 'police officer'? At times the clumsy writing, for me at least, interrupts the flow of the action and made me concentrate on the writing rather than what occurs in the plot - a blunder, in my opinion. I toyed with the idea that perhaps it was a definite intention of the author to bolster Mallory's characteristics, but discarded that idea. I feel that more care in her writing would improve the quality of O'Connell's books.

No doubt Mallory will resume her sociopathic career in future books and no doubt O'Connell's fans will welcome those books as much as they doubtless will welcome this outing of the green eyed detective.

Note: I think the US title of this one is DEAD FAMOUS, published by Putnam

Reviewed by Denise Wels Pickles, November 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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