Book review: Legal thriller meets sitcom

Accused
Mark Gimenez
Sphere
562 pages
Rs295

Crime and punishment thrillers belong to the realm of tough guys: sharks in suits, tattoos on gun-toting men, that kind of thing. We don’t read murder trial based courtroom dramas for the parenting and family snapshot moments or the certainty that nice guys finish first. Mark Gimenez is being hailed as the next Grisham, but he’d have an equally lucrative career if he turned his hand to sitcom scripting. As it is, Accused reads like a feel-good, mildly engrossing family drama.

That may well be because the primary characters are related: the accused Rebecca is the ex-wife of defence lawyer A Scott. And the entire extended ‘family’ is marooned in a beachside villa in Galveston County, Texas. This includes the daughter Boo, adopted black girl Pajamae, hero-worshipping friend Bobby, and heavily pregnant wife Karen. And the loyal support staff, Consuela with baby Maria, paralegal Latino Carlos, and “gentle” black bodyguard Louis.

Rebecca is accused of murdering her boyfriend Trey Rawlins. The District Attorney’s case rests on her fingerprints being on the murder weapon though he cannot easily establish probable cause for murder. However, the scintillating Rebecca’s dirty laundry is considerable. And the odds seem heavily stacked against her with the media going on a rampage to the extent that Scott pleads for a mistrial. But the judge has a political agenda of her own.

Gimenez’s inspiration for Scott seems to be Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird. In fact, there are enough references that A Scott Fenny is also a champion of the coloured people in Dallas. But Gimenez’s handling is too amateur to hold. His pin-up worthy judge asks “Does my hair look okay?” prior to getting out in court.

And Bobby nudges Scott and gestures at his laptop when
Karen emails “Yes!” at a crucial point in the trial. Scott — forced to represent his gorgeous ex-wife, struggles predictably between being a ‘lawyer’ and being a ‘man’ to his client, every few chapters. And the daughters keep up a cute banter that begs for a laugh track. This is no breakneck legal thriller; it is crossover family comedy.