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Book Summary and Reviews of Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark

Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark

Guilt by Degrees

by Marcia Clark

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  • May 2012, 448 pages
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Book Summary

Someone has been watching D.A. Rachel Knight - someone who's Rachel's equal in brains, but with more malicious intentions. It began when a near-impossible case fell into Rachel's lap, the suspectless homicide of a homeless man. In the face of courthouse backbiting and a gauzy web of clues, Rachel is determined to deliver justice. She's got back-up: tough-as-nails Detective Bailey Keller. As Rachel and Bailey stir things up, they're shocked to uncover a connection with the vicious murder of an LAPD cop a year earlier. Something tells Rachel someone knows the truth, someone who'd kill to keep it secret.

Harrowing, smart, and riotously entertaining, Guilt by Degrees is a thrilling ride through the world of LA courts with the unforgettable Rachel Knight.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Clark humanizes her tough lead, and gets the mixture of action and investigative legwork just right." - Publishers Weekly

"A superlative series bringing together elements of both legal thrillers and police procedurals." - Booklist

"It's no big surprise that Marcia Clark knows her way around a courtroom, and a murder mystery - but she's also a terrific writer and storyteller." - James Patterson

This information about Guilt by Degrees was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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FictionZeal

from FictionZeal.com re: Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark
Another DA working in Rachel Knight’s office didn’t care about the case of a murdered homeless man … a ‘John Doe.’ If Rachel, DA for Special Trials, hadn’t taken over the case, it would have been dismissed and no justice would have been obtained for the man. As she begins investigating with the help of her legal partner, Toni LaCollier and Detective Bailey Keller, she finds that the man was Simon Bayer, the brother of Zack Bayer, an officer who’d been killed two years before. The accused had been Bayer’s wife, Lilah, but she’d been released … not guilty. Is the recent murder of Simon related to his brother’s death? To find much-needed answers, they take to the LA streets and talk to others who are homeless that possibly knew Simon. They must be getting close as the danger level increases.

Can anyone say ‘desensitized’? The first chapter of this novel reminds us how many people have literally become desensitized to the deaths of others. In this case, it is the homeless man. He laid dying on the streets of LA for a couple of hours before authorities were called. By that time, he was dead. And so, this novel is very gripping and sadly real. This is Marcia Clark’s second in her Rachel Knight series, following Guilt by Association. As in the first book, I liked Rachel’s personality. I enjoyed the mystery element of the story and watching the legal case unfold. There did seem to be some unnecessary filler added, but my biggest annoyance was the issues that remained unresolved by the end. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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Author Information

Marcia Clark

Marcia Clark is a former prosecutor for the State of California, County of Los Angeles, in the O.J. Simpson murder case. She has written a bestselling nonfiction book, Without a Doubt, about the case, and is a frequent media commentator on legal issues. Now a Special Correspondent for Entertainment Tonight, Clark provides coverage of high profile trials and contributes a column for The Daily Beast.

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