Q: HOW DOES A TELEVISION PRODUCER DESCRIBE THE KIDNAP AND MURDER OF A 2-YEAR-OLD CHILD?
A:“I THINK WE HAVE A HIT ON OUR HANDS!”
In the third The third Marc Kadella legal mystery, an adorable—and photogenic—two-year-old girl is kidnapped, and, when her remains are found, her twenty-two-year-old widowed mother Brittany is charged with her murder. But before she can even be charged she’s been … Brittany is charged with her murder. But before she can even be charged she’s been tried and convicted by the media, at the center of which is Melinda Pace, a cynical, mostly-functioning alcoholic Minneapolis television personality with a “legal news” show called The Court Reporter. Not even in the alternative universe of television news could she be described as a reporter, since she makes no attempt at or pretense of presenting the truth, or even the facts. She does do a great job of producing through-the-roof ratings and whipping the public into a frenzy—with tragic consequences.
Marc is brought into the case early on, before it’s clear it will erupt into a media circus that brings out every goofball, crackpot, and member of the aluminum foil helmet club, along with a publicity-hungry state attorney general.
The prosecution feeds the media monster by painting Brittany as a neglectful mother who got rid of her child because motherhood interfered with her partying.
Marc throws himself heart and soul into saving Brittany from the maw of media justice, and all his associates rally to support him in any way they can. Gorgeous P.I. Maddy Rivers, who is on the case 24/7, reveals a different side as she becomes a sort of big sister to Brittany, providing the TLC that might have kept Brittany out of this mess if she’d gotten it from her controlling mother. Marc’s lady love Judge Margaret Tennant is, as always, sensitive to the needs of an attorney in the throes of a huge case and, as always, eager to meet those needs.
This one’s sure to please fans of the most beloved lawyer sleuth of all time, Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason, who brought the television camera into the courtroom in the first place, and the nitty-gritty, nuts-and-bolts expertise of legal eagles John Grisham and Richard North Patterson.
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Love this series!
Slow start, almost stopped reading. Glad I didn’t. I already don’t have much trust in the spin of the media but this really cements my distrust especially in this election time. Unexpected ending.
This is a wonderful book to read during the first half of 2020. The character of Marc Kadella is deepened during this book. I wondered all through it if law colleges have ever listed patience as a qualification for being a lawyer, and if they don’t, they should. The story portrays the pervasive, pernicious influence the media has on us. A young woman awakes one morning to find her lover and her two-year-old daughter missing. She frantically drives to his apartment complex, but cannot find a listing for him, or her daughter. In fear of her mother’s reaction, she delays notifying the police, hoping against hope that she can find the two of them herself. She cannot, and the disappearance comes to light. This is a story of what happens when the media tries and convicts on the air and how the public reacts. It’s a horrifying indictment of our gullible society, how we depend on the media for facts, and how we need to find all the facts before making a decision. The twist at the end was masterful.
Really good story. The main character isn’t all that likable and a poster child for politically incorrect.
Another great book by this author. I love the main character and his determination to win the case and do what is right. I love the character’s that surround him also. I believe this book is one of the best in the series yet. I am going to move on the the next one I haven’t read yet. This set is worth buying for sure!
3 Stars
Media Justice is the third book in the Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Series by Dennis Carstens.
Marc Kadella defends a young single mother is charged with the murder of her adorable 2 year-old daughter. There is a public outcry, and the young mother is tried in the media, before she even gets the chance to do so in the courtroom. What happens, you ask? Well, you really should read all the details for yourself to avoid me giving away any spoilers.
The story felt quite realistic and believable.
Media Justice is the third installment of Dennis Carstens’ Marc Kadella “Justice” series. In this chapter, criminal defense lawyer Kadella is engaged to defend Brittany, a 21-year-old accused of murdering her adorable 2-year-old daughter. Carstens sets up the circumstances of the case, while telling the reader up front that Brittany is innocent (not a spoiler), but the circumstances surrounding the little girl’s death certainly make her look bad. The real killer set things up well, although he could not have known in advance that Brittany would fail to report the abduction of her daughter to the police until ten days afterwards and would be caught on Facebook partying with her girlfriends, making it look like she was happy after her daughter was gone. The real point of the story, however, is not the investigation and ultimately the trial of Brittany, but rather the role of the sensationalistic tabloid media in fanning the flames of the public and convicting Brittany on television long before any evidence was presented in court, and then misrepresenting the events of the trial so that the public believed Brittany to be guilty no matter what.
Carstens brings back the familiar cast of characters from the prior books in this series, including his investigator, Maddy, in whose presence all males become slack-jawed teenagers; Tony, his PI friend and former cop, whose love interest is a wealthy socialite; Margaret, Marc’s love interest and a judge; and even a few minor characters from earlier books who provide some color. The story is interesting, although knowing that Brittany is innocent takes away much of the suspense (other than whether Marc will be able to induce a not guilty verdict or whether Brittany will be unfairly and unjustly convicted based on the bias of the media). The attack-job on the media sometimes goes a little too far and becomes a bit repetitive, but the point is made – don’t ever believe what you read or see on TV about legal cases.
Carstens’ stories are intricate and he sets up the situation here very well. The execution of the trial, which takes up the final third of the book, includes many elements that are a bit too convenient, including Marc’s ability to find the key evidence and key witnesses that the prosecution missed, even though it was fairly obvious. The incompetent police and prosecutors sometimes come off as buffoonish and make it easy for Kadella to be the hero. Then, the “surprise” ending sequence, like one of the earlier books, feels gratuitous and unnecessary as well as less believable than the rest of the story.
Carstens also needs to get an editor to clean up his writing before publication. There are too many small punctuation, grammar, and word choice errors, as well as too many awkwardly phrased sentences that could be fixed by a good copy editor. Also a few plot points needed to be explained better and could have been. But, despite these flaws, the story is compelling and interesting to read, making the book worth the read. I will go on reading this series because of the characters and the stories, despite the problems.
This was an awesome book. Loved all of it. But it sure lets us know how the Media works, It can make you sick. Hard to put this one down. Very good job.
Love this series, highly recommend it; author needs a better editor for punctuation, some word usage, but otherwise they are great reads!
I believe that is exactly the way the media can destroy someone. I don’t watch some news channels. Only one American news. It’s the only honest news network.
Excellent read. Keeps you guessing.
So good I couldn’t put it down. So relevant to today’s news!!
If you like John Grisham you’ll enjoy this book
appreciated the message, the writing was simple, but somewhat redundant.
This story is what you now expect from the media. Tragic ending but an excellent read with connections to current events. How would you react if you were receiving the news from only one source? Scary at the least
I really recommend this book; interesting characters and I was NOT sure how it would end — whether the good guy or the bad guy would be the victor…..surprising good story. Celeste Robertson
A “could be true” commentary on irresponsible news reporting that succinctly demonstrates the difference between reporting the news and embellishing the facts and the dire consequences when the non-thinking public buys into whatever some reporter spews out as truth based on opinion or pure fiction rather than fact. A page-turner illustrating the arrogance of the media.
I enjoyed the story line but it was a bit frustrating at times. The near ending was horrible and the true ending predictible. It was interesting to have insights into the media industry.
It was terrifying to see how the media presented the facts or lack of them to taint the audience and the public at large. A good read till the very end.
Easy read and a page Turner.