Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A psychological courtroom thriller from Cook (The Crime of Julian Wells, 2012, etc.). Husband and wife Sam and Sandrine Madison are both professors at Coburn College in Georgia, but one evening, Sandrine dies from an overdose of pain medications and liquor. Is it suicide or murder? Sam's strange behavior leads to his arrest, and his subsequent murder trial forms the structure of the story, told in his own words. The couple had grown apart over the years because Sandrine saw Sam as becoming increasingly indifferent and disconnected from her. Even when he learns Sandrine has Lou Gehrig's disease and will surely die, he shows little sympathy or emotional support. He holds his town of Coburn in contempt and considers his students ignoramuses unworthy of his erudition. (Do these kids even know that "unique" doesn't take an adjective?) Sam's thoughts and speech are full of literary references that further separate him from ordinary people. If he ever gets around to writing the great book he vaguely plans, he won't write it in his office--he doesn't have one of those--but in his "scriptorium." So Sam is an easy man to dislike, both for the townspeople and the reader. Maybe Sandrine committed suicide, as Sam claims. Or maybe he murdered her to escape the increasing burdens of her care, as the prosecutor wants the jury to think. Day by day, the state builds its case while the defense tries to tear it down. Sam's own memories show Sandrine's increasing frustration and rage with him, while conversations with the defense attorney reveal more of Sam's personality than the defense dares allow the jury to know. Defense and prosecution are equally skilled and devoted to winning their cases, so the trial's outcome--and the truth--are not easy to predict. A marvelous tale of human nature.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Master plotter Cook upends the traditional linear progress of the typical mystery from crime through solution (and sometimes) trial by starting this head-scratcher at the trial itself, with the opening argument of the prosecution. We sit with college professor Samuel Madison, on trial for murdering his wife, Sandrine, also a college professor, as he thinks about what has happened to him over the past week: for example, how the first responding officer on the scene seemed much more interested in what had happened than Samuel had expected; how the people in his tiny college town all seemed to have turned against him, assuming that such a socially graceless, homely man as he certainly would have killed his beautiful, faithless wife; and how excessively well prepared the prosecution seems to be. Part of the thrill of reading this unusual mystery is that we're confined to Samuel's head, and he's not saying if he did indeed murder his wife. Another fine effort from the always insightful Cook.--Fletcher, Connie Copyright 2010 Booklist

Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

In this slow-burning, intricate thriller from Edgar-winner Cook (The Crime of Julian Wells), Sam Madison and his wife, Sandrine, both professors at Georgia's Coburn College (he of literature, she of history) and parents of a grown daughter, appear to have a solid marriage. But below the surface there are problems, which culminate in Sandrine's death from a cocktail of Demerol and vodka. While the coroner rules the death a suicide, the police suspect foul play and soon zero in on Sam as his wife's killer. The local prosecutor is so certain of Sam's guilt that he seeks the death penalty. In the course of the murder trial, which runs from unexpected revelations on the witness stand to torrents of legalese as the attorneys jockey for power, Sam reflects on his relationship with the brilliant, beautiful, and vexing Sandrine. Through Sam's memories, Cook pulls off the tricky task of rendering Sandrine-a lover of ancient history, particularly Cleopatra, and the intricacies of language-as vividly as if she had never died. This crime novel, one of his best, builds to an unforeseen, but earned, climax. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.