Wesson, Marianne – RENDER UP THE BODY

[LJ Roberts]

RENDER UP THE BODY (Legal Thriller-Colorado-Cont) – G Wesson, Marianne – 1^st
book
Harper Collins, 1998 – Hardcover

Cinda Hayes has left her job as a sex-crimes prosecutor to become the director of the Boulder County Rape Crisis Center. However, her former teacher and mentor, Justice Hilton James, asks her to handle the appeal of Jason Smiley, convicted of rape and murder. Her friends distance themselves from her and she loses her job, but as inconsistencies in the original trial build, she is determined to do all she can for her client in spite of her own personal moral dilemma.

I'll admit I had a bit of trouble getting into this; in fact, it took me three tries. However, the third time was a charm and by page 53, I was hooked and stayed up way too late to finish it. I'm not a lawyer, and I think some of the legal detail is what slowed me down. I really liked the character of Cinda. I did have to remind myself the story is set in 1990/1991 and being very liberal, one of the major plot points seemed a non-issue to me, but I know that not true even today. The story builds well and the ending is effective, even though I guessed it. Overall, I though it was good and will read the next, because it's already on my shelf, but I'm not certain I'd have sought it out otherwise. Think I'll stick to Grisham.