Review: FAST EDUCATION IN JUSTICE
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 3, 2011
BEYOND MALICE is the first novel by Author REBECCA FORSTER that I have had the great pleasure of reading.I see MS. REBECCA FORESTER is also the author of four other legal thrillers; HOSTILE WITNESS, PRIVILEGED WITNESS, SILENT WITNESS and CHARACTER WITNESS.Having read BEYOND MALICE, I am now eager to buy and read all four of her "Witness Series" novels.  I am curious to know if MS. FORESTER is an Attorney at Law.  IF not, she should be!  She writes a very deailed story of an old, prestigious, reverred law firm in Los Angeles.  When a Senior partner's wife is murdered at the annual Black-tie dinner, with over two hundred of the firms partners and associates in attnedance. Attorney Nora Royce, an up-and-coming Associate, who was doing double duty as the mistress of the murdered partner's wife is quickly arrested and charged with the henious crime.  She is unceremoniously ostracized by the L. A. Defense bar.  Her only choice to defend her is her older sister, Amanda Cross.  Amanda did her time as an Assistant District Attorney to learn the ropes, then after a few years opened her own small firm.  She and sister Nora were estranged, to put it mildly.  However, murder has a way of bringing family together.  Enter Mark Fleming, an experienced Criminal Investigator.  He starts off on the wrong foot with Amanda but soon appears to apologize and offer his services.  It does not take long for the reader to realize there is a strong mutual interest between Amanda and Mark.BEYOND MALICE is as good as any "PERRY MASON" novel I've ever read (I've read most of them).  The climatic ending, I can see AMANDA CROSS leaning toward the witness in her best Raymond Burr impression . . . "YOU KILLED YOUR WIFE . . . DIDN'T YOU . . . WITH MALICE AFORETHOUGHT . . . DIDN'T YOU!"Unfortunately, Author REBECCA FORESTER leaves her readers with a mystery . . . HOW much was the check her sister gave her as her fee?I urge you to buy BEYOND MALICE by REBECCA FORESTER, you will love her style and become an instant fan, as I have.I will also grab Author REBECCA FORESTER's other books:BEFORE HER EYESTHE MENTORKEEPING COUNSELSEASONSI can not wait to see BEYOND MALICE on the "Big" Screen or perhaps a "Movie of the Week" - hey, maybe it could be a "LAW & ORDER - LOS ANGELES" - - - Dick Wolf should read BEYOND MALICE.Respectfully,Michael Phelps