Review: Order In The Court!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2011
Who but Parnell Hall could hang an entertaining novel on $100 missing from a petty cash drawer?The book is written mostly in dialogue. I peg it as Abbott and Costello meet Jacques Clouseau in "A Shot In The Dark." It's so funny because it all makes perfect sense.Basically the story is set in a court room and the protagonist, Steve Winslow, is my kind of lawyer. He's long-haired, wears a T-shirt, jeans and a corduroy jacket, and has a mind like a steel trap. As someone who worked for 20 years in a law office I relish the performances of the district attorney, the defense attorney and the judge in this fictitious court room.Winslow's client, Amy, is accused of stealing $100 from the petty cash drawer of the office where she works. She's such a pain in the patoot that I ended up liking her, even though at times I wanted to slap her smartly. Before it's over she is also on trial for murder.This innocent woman causes all kinds of havoc in Winslow's professional life. The book ends with a surprise that blows everyone out of the water. Small wonder that Winslow instructs his assistant, a Della Street-wannabe named Tracy: "... no more innocent ones. They're entirely too much trouble. ... Next client you bring me damn well better be guilty."Parnell Hall has 5 more Steve Winslow books listed on Kindle at $2.99 each. I plan to read all of them.My download of THE INNOCENT WOMAN was a gift from the author.