JUROR #3

3.5 stars

Picture this: It's the deep south, where conventional wisdom dictates that whites and blacks don't hang around in the same social circles. Beautiful white woman and a hunky black ex-jock defy said conventional wisdom (several times, most recently in a beach cabana). White woman gets brutally murdered. Black man gets charged with said murder. Snarky judge assigns defense to newbie white female attorney. Client insists he's innocent and refuses to take a plea. Case heads to trial with odds (including the jurors) stacked against a win. Anyone hear a familiar twang?

Yup, me too. The only surprise is that it's not by the author I'd have expected. 

Nonetheless, the plot makes this a better-than-just-tolerable read; the only other surprises, I guess, come as said newbie white female attorney, Ruby Bozarth, learns who she can trust. Otherwise, the story follows her efforts to be taken seriously by the judge, prosecuting attorney, jurors and even her client (she's already given up on her snooty rich racist ex-fiance, Lee Greene). 

Problems begin at the voir dire, when the prosecutor runs roughshod over Ruby's juror choices; in particular, she's suspicious about the person seated as Juror #3 (wow, that would make a great book title)! But from out of the blue comes her ex-fiance's Aunt Suzanne - an established, blustery local attorney strongly reminiscent of TV's fiesty, oversized but oddly lovable Harry Enfield, played by Kathy Bates. Then, out of the blue blood appears said ex-fiance - wearing an orange jumpsuit. It seems he's been accused of murdering a beautiful young woman. Despite his disdain over Ruby's boots-on-the-ground lower-class social background, her inexperience and his family's misgivings, he insists that as his attorney, only she will do. 

Right off the bat, Ruby gets Greene's trial moved from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to her tiny town of Rosedale to avoid media contamination of the jurors - a venue that seems to assure that this case somehow will intersect with that of the cabana-killer. It does, at least marginally, and after investigations make the truth hard to swallow and threaten her very life, Ruby - and the second-time-around jury - get to the truth. 

Conclusion: An ending that begs for more details, but overall not half bad; so if you enjoy books with a legal bent, don't hesitate to give it a go.

Juror #3 by James Patterson and Nancy Allen (Little, Brown and Co., September 2018); 352 pp.