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The Guilty Plea: A Novel ReviewI recently finished both The Guilty Plea, and its predecessor Old City Hall. I consider this a review of both books.3 stars is a relatively low rating, although I want to be clear that I enjoyed reading this book. It has a lot of positives. First and foremost, this book is authentic. I currently study Canadian law, and have spent a lot of time in the Toronto area. This book is a very authentic reflection of both. It is refreshing to read a legal thriller with an authentic Canadian edge. I also think that Rotenberg does a great job developing some of the main characters, Detective Greene and his father in particular.
Now for the "buts". Even though the plot is reasonably exciting (I was eager to see what happened next), I found it to be simplistic. It had the depth of an episode of CSI. It reminded me a bit of the Hardy Boy books I read as a kid. There are a couple twists, some subtle hints along the way, and a climax "ah hah" moment at the end. More experienced thriller writers generally put together a much more complex, multi-layered story, with different story arcs, overlapping in interesting ways. Both of Rotenberg's books focus on a single narrative: a single murder, with an obvious suspect who everyone thinks committed the crime (but did they really?!). We see the case from different perspectives, but Rotenberg doesn't really use that device to create suspense. There is a side plot in both books regarding the death of Officer Kennicot's brother, but neither book pushes the story line forward, even a little bit. That annoyed me.
There were a few other things that annoyed me as well. Right off the bat, I found it agitating to see the same device used to kick off the plot in Guilty Plea as we saw in Old City Hall. In both books, an immigrant worker goes through a routine, comments to themselves how silly North Americans do things, and then discovers the body and calls the police. As I started reading the book, part of me wondered if I could have saved my money and just read Old City Hall again. But my money spent, I read on. The main story wasn't so forumalic, but I ran into a bigger problem: it didn't always make a lot of sense. For instance, there is one scene in which Detective Greene and his father mourn the death of the detective's late mother. The chapter concludes with Greene emotionally "letting go". Here's the problem: Greene's mother has almost never been mentioned in either of the two books, and this whole things comes totally out of nowhere. At least the distraction is momentary; the romantic relationships of our main two characters (Greene and Kennicot) are a constant annoyance. The relationships don't progress in a believable way, they have no value to the plot, they don't reveal anything about the main characters, and by the end of the book they are of no significance at all. Speaking of the end of the book, I didn't like the final twist/climax. A good twist is one that you can't believe you didn't see coming; this twist was one I couldn't believe even after it was spelled out in detail. The resolution of the story also felt rushed, although in some ways that was a good thing: the climax made more sense when I didn't have time to think about it.
That's how I'd recommend you approach this book. It's an insightful and authentic look at Toronto, and the Canadian criminal justice system. The story is good popcorn fun, and some of the characters are quite likeable. But don't waste your energy trying to figure out whodunnit. Enjoy the book like you would enjoy CSI: don't think too much, and try to enjoy the ride.
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