I have read many of Grisham books and this was my first Steve Martini, and i must confess that i loved this book more than all the books i have read of this genre - legal fiction-so far. I loved the book more than even Presumed Innocent and Defending Jacob. I liked this book not less than Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver.

The book doesn't waste the pages in restaurant and bar which i often find in Grisham books insomuch abundance that it causes me severe indigestion next morning after late night partying with his books.

Full of court room action and court proceedings and sufficient humor kept me glued till the end.
Steve also some time explained the legal terms like 'hearsay', 'assumption of fact not in the evidence' pretty well so besides enjoyment it was also a sort of learning for me.

If one is more interested in court room action- i read legal fiction only for this reason alone- and not looking for much suspense and thrill, I will highly recommend this book.

"Compelling Evidence" is the first Paul Madriani courtroom drama, and you can see glimpses of the beginning evolution of Steve Martini as a superb writer. He very aptly describes, in a great deal of detail, the capital murder case of Talia Potter, from the arduous process of jury selection to the decisions that prosecutors and defense attorneys make in putting together and presenting their cases. Martini's subsequent novels do not have quite that level of detail, instead focusing more on character development. In "Compelling Evidence", Talia Potter is arrested and tried for the brutal murder of her wealthy, much older husband. Talia has carelessly left a trail of large breadcrumbs pointing to her multiple extramarital affairs and has a very weak alibi. Paul Madriani is lured into representing her, even though he himself has a bit of a sordid history with the widow. The facts of the case seem to point in a particular direction, yet Martini pulls a rabbit out of a hat for a surprising ending. It's a well-written book and a great introduction to the Paul Madriani series. I highly recommend it.

Great Old Fashioned Lawyer mystery

Really love the tone and the personal struggle of the lawyer. Not a whodunit, but good court room tension. Looking forward to the next in the series.

Compelling Evidence

Good story…a “page turner”. Just enough “intertwined” stories/plots that are all connected, to make it hard to put down. Attorney Paul Madriani is believable as an attorney, and is not some “super-hero” who walks on water in his spare time. He has “chinks in his armor”.

This book is not as good as the later books. I thought there was too much information about Paul's affair, too much detail that adds nothing to the book. The story is interesting, however the best parts are in the court room.

Listened to the book on tape read by Joe Mantegna. Listening to Joe Mantegna read was the only redeeming value to this book. Story was wooden with facts added in as after thought and contrived out of convenience to the writing.

I enjoyed it. I like a courtroom drama. I enjoyed him as a defense attorney. I thought the story was believeable. It was well read by the narrator.

I listened to this as an audio book loaned and downloaded as a mp3 from the library. I did not know I got the "abridged" version. It obviously was since it only took about four hours to listen to the thing. So my review is a little tainted in that way. With the shortness, it was really difficult to get a sense of the author's capabilities. However the story was good, with a nice trick ending, so I will be giving Steve Martini more opportunities to impress me later.

I give Compelling evidence
Five stars.


I just have to give this book double thumbs up!
While it began slowly, I realized as I read that had the character development not been done as it was, and the buildup done slowly that the book as a whole would not have been very good at all.
The court-room drama was incredible. It was quite literally like being there.
I am glad that I was participating from Reclinerville though because had I been in that court-room there would surely have been trouble for me.
I believe I’d have found myself in contempt of court due to a few out-bursts.

I did not see the outcome coming at all.
The actual murderer took me quite by surprise.
Either I’m slow at solving mysteries, or the author is good at hiding things until the end when they’re in their proper places.
Either way, if you enjoy good court-room drama, fantastic character development, and some great dialog, this book is for you.
I like that the sexual over-tone leaves things to the imagination.
It is descriptive just enough to let you think up the rest.

I will for sure be reading the rest of this series.

In the meantime, I have a couple other books going as well.

This was a vacation read for me, and definitely did not distract me from the sights of Florence. I was hoping it would be better than the previous Martini book I have read (The List), and it was, but only marginally. I left the book in my hotel room, it was not worth the weight in my luggage.

This novel was written in the 1990's and was the first of the Paul Madriani series. Some of the action is very dated but in the end it was still enjoyable. I thought the characters were a little stereotypical and the pacing of the book a sometimes disjointed. However, the author draws you in and just when you think that it is very predictable ad that you know "who done it" you get smacked in the face by the surprise ending. Well done!

A defense attorney to live

I am looking forward to more books about Paul Madriani. Paul is a flawed by generally likeable attorney tasked with keeping his former lover from death row for killing her husband. The first third of this book takes pains to give us a clear picture of the main characters. The trial is complex and expertly described. Overall an enjoyable first book in the series.