Marcia Clark’s role as the lead prosecutor for the State of California in the infamous O.J. Simpson trial put her in the public eye. Her cool demeanor, intelligence, and legal skills were obvious, despite the 1995 trial’s outcome. Since her resignation in 1997, Clark has worked as an Entertainment Tonight correspondent, covering high-profile trials, and, with co-author Teresa Carpenter, written Without a Doubt, a nonfiction book based on the O.J. case.
Clark can now add fiction author to her impressive resume with her debut featuring Assistant District Attorney Rachel Knight. Guilt by Association puts Clark in the same league as Linda Fairstein, another district attorney turned author. Clark shows an affinity for believable characters while insightfully weaving in legal ethics and office politics.
Rachel considers her position as an assistant district attorney in the elite Special Trials unit as a mission rather than a job. A workaholic, she is devoted to the law and to finding justice for L.A.’s crime victims. Rachel sees the same values in her colleague, Jake Pahlmeyer, another Special Trials prosecutor who matches her passion for the law. But their relationship is strictly work-related and neither knows anything about the other’s personal life. Even so, when Jake is found dead in a seedy motel with a murdered 16-year-old male prostitute, Rachel can’t believe that the man she worked with could have led such a double life. Despite orders to stay away from the case, Rachel begins her own investigation while also handling the rape case of a teenager whose wealthy father is a big supporter of the district attorney.
Rachel proves to be a complex character, driven and aloof at work, but in private, lonely and haunted by a childhood tragedy that Clark only briefly hints at. For the most part, the author wisely avoids overloading Rachel with too many psychological quirks, but the assistant DA’s worries that every meal or snack will cause her to gain an ounce of weight quickly become irritating.
That said, the importance given in the novel to women’s strong friendships is very welcome. Rachel shares laughs and confidences with Toni, a fellow Special Trials prosecutor, and Bailey, a female LAPD detective. Work brought the three together, but this trio of friends are able to be both professional and personal support for one another in what is largely a man’s world of crime and punishment. Rachel’s time away from the office with these women adds to the novel’s realism as does Rachel’s growing attraction for Graden Hales, a hunky L.A. lieutenant assigned to the case.
Clark proves she’s a natural storyteller, balancing several plot threads with aplomb, allowing them to intersect in a realistic way with several believable twists and surprises. The adept story and appealing characters in Guilt by Association make it a welcome addition to the legal thriller genre. Clark seems to be that rare celebrity novelist—she can actually write.
