On trial again

Anyone who has read Scott Turow's classic courtroom thriller Presumed Innocent (1987) should read the 2010 sequel, Innocent, for the rest of the story. Yet amazingly one need not read the first novel first, even though  Innocent picks up the story two decades later. Somehow Turow manages to refer back to the events of the earlier novel repeatedly, yet without disclosing the earlier book's surprise ending. So reading the novels in order may not be a requirement, but it certainly is a good idea.

Innocent begins with the death of Rusty Sabich's wife, Barbara. Unfortunately for him, he waits 24 hours before reporting the death, something a candidate for the state supreme court should know better than do. That delay suggests an apparent death from natural causes might be something else.

The county prosecutor is the same Tommy Molto who prosecuted Rusty 22 years before for the murder of his mistress. Rusty was found not guilty in that trial, but Tommy has never believed the verdict. Now he has a second chance to put his nemesis behind bars. We know he's wrong again — the title tells us that much — but once again the truth of what really happened comes as a shock at the end of a long, probably too long, novel.

To complicate Rusty's situation, he is guilty of a second affair, this time with Anna, his former law clerk. (Funny how each time he has an affair, he gets charged with murder.) Then, after Rusty has the good sense to break up with her, Anna and his son, Nat, become lovers. Barbara dies the night after Nat and Anna come to the house for dinner.

Once again Rusty is defended by Sandy Stern, the brilliant defense attorney who saved him in his first murder trial, but Sandy is now dying of cancer. I find it amazing that after so many years the names of Rusty Sabich, Sandy Stern and Tommy Molto still sound familiar. That speaks to the power of the first book. The second comes close to that level of intensity.