Proof Positive

✍ Scribed by Phillip Margolin

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 172 KB
• Edition: 1st ed
• Category: Fiction

✦ Synopsis

Defense attorney Doug Weaver believes his client, Jacob Cohen, is innocentbut the forensic evidence proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that the meek, mentally ill homeless man killed and dismembered a woman . . .

Hired to defend gangster Art Prochaska against charges that he murdered an informer, lawyer Amanda Jaffe and her father, Frank, have their work cut out for thembecause, as improbable as it seems, the forensic clues scream that Prochaska is guilty . . .

And now people are dying inexplicablyas Amanda and Doug join forces to find answers hidden somewhere in the darkest corners of crime scene investigation, where a god-playing madman holds the lethal power to alter the truth.

From Publishers Weekly

In bestseller Margolin's third legal thriller featuring feisty defense lawyer Amanda Jaffe (after 2003's Wild Justice), respected forensic expert Bernard Cashman, who works for the Oregon State Crime Laboratory, has developed a personal philosophy that allows him to manufacture evidence to ensure the successful prosecution of those he feels are guilty, especially if crucial evidence is missing. He's not a madman, just absolutely sure that he knows more than judge, jury and the legal system when it comes to administering justice. After a fellow crime lab employee approaches him about discrepancies in his work, he adds murder to his list of methods that ensure his continuing crusade. Amanda is still working in her father's law firm and still having trouble with her love life, though Margolin wisely steers clear of wasting much time on her personal problems. The author deftly manages a large cast of characters and ties the many plot lines together with enough clever twists to satisfy faithful fans and newcomers.
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Amanda Jaffe, the Oregon defense attorney, is defending a homeless man accused of murder, while her father, Frank, is representing a mobster on a similar charge. Although both men profess their innocence, the forensic evidence says otherwise. But when Amanda starts examining the evidence in these two unconnected cases, she finds a frightening common denominator. The third Jaffe novel--after Wild Justice (2000) and Ties That Bind (2003)--is an examination of the role of forensic evidence in bringing criminals to justice. In addition to a fast-moving plot and characters who at least hold up their end of the bargain, Margolin shows readers how a crime-scene investigator can easily--and often without detection--not only influence the outcome of a trial but also effectively ensure a certain verdict. It's typical of Margolin to use the legal-thriller subgenre to explore some socially significant aspect of the jury system. The increasing popularity of forensic fiction and of CSI, the television series that has become a cottage industry, virtually guarantees this novel a wide and appreciative audience. David Pitt
Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved