Digital audiobook narrated by John Bedford Lloyd
3.5***

After the international success of n  Presumed Innocentn Turow turns his attention to the defense attorney in that first effort and centers the action on Alejandro “Sandy” Stern. It opens with a shock – on returning from a business trip, Sandy discovers his beloved wife dead in their car in the garage, an apparent suicide. As he struggles to deal with this loss, he turns to his adult children, and becomes enmeshed in their problems as well as those of his brother-in-law.

This is a complicated legal mess, involving securities / commodities trading, that frankly lost me in its complexity. But I really loved how Turow wrote Sandy and his relationships with these various characters. Sandy struggles between his professional demeanor and responsibilities, and his personal relationships. It’s a messy situation (or three), and I sometimes struggled to keep things straight.

This is really more character-driven than most legal thrillers. But the plot complexities, however puzzling to me, were also what kept me interested and engaged and wondering and guessing right to the end … which is a stunner.

John Bedford Lloyd does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. He maintains a good pace and I really liked the way he interpreted Sandy.

Alejandro (Sandy) Stern, very successful 56 year-old lawyer, with three grown children arrives home to find his wife of over 30 years has committed suicide. Overwhelmed and confused by this, Stern tries to understand what has happened. Immediately after his wife's funeral, Stern has to turn back to the law to defend his brother-in-law, Dixon Hartnell, who is the target of an increasingly complex investigation by a federal grand jury. Dixon is a very rich and very successful owner of a commodities futures brokerage. Stern is devote to his sister, the wife of Dixon. To add complication, Stern's son-in-law works for Dixon. There are many intrigues with Stern, his family, his devotion to his sister and coming to terms with his wife's death. A good read.

Turow has upped his game since the first book in the series. This has a more standard structure. Two mysteries, one professional and one personal, that tie together in the end. Legal and finance mixed together gives the setting some spice.

I read the print version of this book a dozen years ago, and now I have just finished listening to the audible version. I liked it when I first read it, and I really liked it listening to it. There is a lot of human relationship material in this book, most of it within one family. I found it to be impressive, material and thoughtful in so many ways. People struggling and people failing, but ultimately with a happy ending. The ending is a bit contrived, but so be it!
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I thought I would try to read some quick mystery books to shorten my TBR pile. This book has 515 pages so it appears that winnowing effort will have to wait a while longer. This book could be 300 pages instead of 500. But it would be missing many of the human interactions that make this book so enjoyable and memorable.

The legal territory we enter by reading this book includes The Grand Jury. For me, that is an education. I have, of course, heard about Grand Juries many times but, with the help of Scott Turow, I have painlessly expanded my knowledge of the process.

I like that this book is more in depth than some mystery/crime books that can at times be skimming the surface with most characters. You have an experience of terrific character development without a lot of extraneous information. Everything matters in this book. The words are well chosen and enjoyable to read.

I sometimes found it hard to follow the trail of the crime or the events as they zigged and zagged along. As I often say, too much detail and twisting and turning for my brain. But I can work up a good deal of acceptance of the proofs or assumed proofs even if I do not fully follow them. That means I can keep up with the story and enjoy it without burning out on details. There is plenty of material and missing a bit does no lasting damage to the reading.

Stern is not young. I am not young. I like that. Heroes do not always have to be young and handsome and trim. And people who are no longer young in years still have all the same feelings as those who are. It is interesting and encouraging to find Stern sexually attracted to a number of women after his wife dies. And to see that he can have a positive interaction with a five year old even as he has doubts about how well he did with his own children. In his own imperfections and doubts I find a likeable character.

As I experienced it, the age of this book (published 22 years ago) did not have a detrimental effect on the story. The absence of cell phones and computers did not distract with dust and cobwebs. I lived in a time without these technologies so it is not hard for me to adjust. I wonder if it is the same for readers who have never known life without electronics. Maybe those people do not read books that are 22 years old!

This is an easy four star book for me. I have other Turow books on my shelf to look forward to reading when he comes up again on my cycle of authors and series.

I really tried to like this book but the murder/suicide investigation of Sandy Stern’s wife got way too complicated, also the writing style was dry.
One more thing, there was too much family drama which proved to be quite a distraction in the wake of the mother’s murder- like celebrating Kate’s pregnancy right after the mother died, I felt that was too soon. I do agree that we need to celebrate the good things in life, but that was just too much. Lastly, while on the topic of grieving, I do not think to sleep around after your wife’s death is the right way to grieve, but I could be wrong.
All in all, this felt like reading a book that would soon to be turned into a lifetime movie.
I guess this book just wasn’t my cup of tea!

A wonderful read from start to end,where the political, sexual, criminal and moral elements are tied up tightly.

3.5 stars

A wonderful read from start to end. A detective story where the political, sexual, criminal and moral elements are tied up tightly.

Best middle-aged South American immigrant sex machine lawyer protagonist ever.

3.5 Stars

The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow is supposed to be about a family caught in a maelstrom of hidden crimes, shocking secrets, and warring passions. I found it quite different. It is a Soap Opera that never should have been. The characters in the book could have been interesting. In fact some of the sub plots would have made good books. I found The Burden of Proof to be just a burden to read. The book was a jumbled mess.

I was hooked at first with the background of Clara and why she committed suicide and wanted to learn more. However, how the story played out was a serious let down. Everyone played poor Sandy for a schmuck while he was getting it on with anything that moved. Ridiculously erotic for a “legal thriller”. There were really no thrilling legal moves at all through the whole book. While I did appreciate the authors attention to detail, it was overkill and I ended up skimming some sections just to get to the point. Ultimately, Clara committed suicide because of her kids’ manipulations and games, and because she had herpes. Crazy.