Legacy of Lies by Robert Bailey

District Attorney General Helen Lewis’ ex-husband is found dead in his house. The General was seen threatening him the previous day – he asked her to withdraw a rape case against his friend or else… Helen has a secret; a secret that she and her husband Butch decided not to talk about. Almost four decades later, Butch decides to go to the press and reveal her secret. The next day he’s found murdered. Coincidence?

Bocephus Haynes comes home dejected – a bad day at court with the judge granting the custody of his two children to his late wife’s parents and sees Helen waiting for him at his doorstep. She talks of her husband’s murder and how she might end up in jail for killing him.

Helen has already given up on finding justice – and finding the killer. Bo takes up he case but it comes at a cost…

Legacy of Lies is the first book in a brand new legal thriller series by Robert Bailey. As a first in the series, the story is expected to begin on a slow note and more importance is given to character introduction. However, in Legacy of Lies, we do see a lot of drama at the beginning.

The events leading to Helen’s arrest and Bo’s dejection at losing the custody of his children. There’s another evil character – a rich guy who is currently accused of raping a teenager. Helen was supposed to handle the case and the verdict was almost out when the court proceedings had to be stalled on account of Butch’s murder.

This book is low on the legal mish-mash. We see a lot of Bo’s fight with his inner demons – his wife’s murder, followed by the deaths of the professor and his best friend. Bo also has severed ties with his only relative – a little of beating up each other when they both meet.

We then have the rape victim’s mother Lona joining Bo’s law office as a receptionist. There are no new developments in the case – though Butch’s illegal activities come into picture, there is still no proof that Helen did not murder him. Time is ticking by and Helen will spend the rest of her life in jail if Bo doesn’t find any evidence which proves her innocence. Surprisingly, Lona points out Bo’s cousin to be a suspect.

The last sentence of the previous paragraph might be a spoiler as this revelation does not happen until the latter half of the story. But I am disappointed as to why a certain somebody who knows nothing about solving cases makes a very good point while the lawyer (who is supposed to be a hero of this series) refuses to accept it. Bo refuses to even think of his cousin as a suspect. He goes a step further and hides this from the court -just because he knows the cousin is innocent??? Gut instinct or overconfidence?

The twist in the end spoiled the fun for me. Not only was it unexpected, it certainly took the ‘mystery’ to a whole new direction. Without giving away any spoilers here, it made me think Bo as an incompetent lawyer. Definitely not my kind of ending to a ‘legal’ thriller.

The plot caught my attention but the story turned out to be way below my expectations. This did not feel like a legal thriller. Nor was there any emphasis on ‘gathering clues’. A case solved on gut instincts? Count me out!

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