Suspect

by Scott Turow

Overview

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent and The Last Trial returns with a riveting legal thriller in which a reckless private detective is embroiled in a fraught police scandal.

For as long as Lucia Gomez has been the police chief in the city of Highland Isle, near Kindle County, she has known that any woman in law enforcement must walk a precarious line between authority and camaraderie to gain respect.  She has maintained a spotless reputation—until now. Three male police officers have accused her of soliciting sex in exchange for promotions to higher ranks. With few people left who she can trust, Chief Gomez turns to an old friend, Rik Dudek, to act as her attorney in the federal grand jury investigation, insisting to Rik that the accusations against her are part of an ugly smear campaign designed to destroy her career and empower her enemies—both outside the police force and within..
 
Clarice “Pinky” Granum spent most of her youth experimenting with an impressive array of drugs and failing out of various professions, including the police academy. Pinky knows that in the eyes of most people, she's nothing but a screwup—but she doesn't trust most people's opinions anyway. Moreover, she finally has a respectable-enough job as a licensed P.I. working for Rik on his roster of mostly minor cases, like workman's comp, DUIs and bar fights. Rik's shabby office and even shabbier cases are a far cry from the kinds of high-profile criminal matters Pinky became familiar with in the law office of her grandfather, Sandy Stern. But Rik and Pinky feel that Chief Gomez’s case, which has attracted national attention, is their chance to break into the legal big leagues.    
 
Guided by her gut instinct and razor-sharp investigative skills, Pinky dives headfirst into a twisted scandal that will draw her into the deepest recesses of the city’s criminal networks, as well as the human mind. But she will need every scrap of tenacity and courage to unravel the dark secrets those closest to her are determined to keep hidden.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538706329
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	249
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Scott Turow is the author of many bestselling works of fiction, including The Last Trial, Testimony, Identical, Innocent, Presumed Innocent, and The Burden of Proof, and two nonfiction books, including One L, about his experience as a law student. His books have been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into movies and television projects. He has frequently contributed essays and op-ed pieces to publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.

Hometown:

Chicago, Illinois

Date of Birth:

April 12, 1949

Place of Birth:

Chicago, Illinois

Education:

B.A. in English, Amherst College, 1970; M.A., Stanford University, 1974; J.D., Harvard University, 1978

Website:

http://www.scottturow.com/

Editorial Reviews

07/04/2022

Fledgling PI Clarice “Pinky” Granum, the narrator of bestseller Turow’s disappointing 12th legal thriller bordering Illinois’s fictitious Kindle County (after 2020’s The Last Trial), works for attorney Rik Dudek. Pinky, the granddaughter of series regular Sandy Stern, who retired in The Last Trial, is assisting Rik on the case of a client, Highland Isle police chief Lucia Gomez-Barrera. Three male subordinates have accused Gomez-Barrera of offering them promotions in return for sex. With criminal charges still being considered, the local Police and Fire Commission has moved ahead with disciplinary hearings that could result in Gomez-Barrera’s termination. Pinky’s digging into the chief’s accusers coincides with her growing fascination with a hunky neighbor’s eccentric and reclusive habits. The central plot doesn’t compel, despite its connection to a murder midway through the book, and the unconventional Pinky—a former drug addict and police academy flameout with a pierced nose—comes across as more of a stereotype than a real person. Even devoted Turow fans will hope this is the last they see of Pinky. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2022-07-27
A private eye aids a police chief whose knickers may be in a twist.

In Highland Isle, Chief Lucia “Lucy” Gomez is accused of forcing a subordinate to have sex with her in exchange for his promotion to sergeant before his retirement. Unfortunately for the chief, there is a lurid photograph. But wait, she says, it must be Photoshopped. That can't be her. Well, we'll see about that. She's a “good police chief,” an attorney says. “But power corrupts. And she's turned her officers into her pool boys.” If a civil hearing determines that she’s been “bringing home guys who were under [her] command,” those knickers are well and truly twisted. Doing research on her behalf is the narrator, Clarice "Pinky" Granum, a 33-year-old ace investigator who works for the chief's lawyer, Rik Dudek. Gomez is a strong character, but she’s nothing like Pinky, the granddaughter of Sandy Stern, who has been a recurring character in Turow’s novels. Sandy is now in his mid-80s and in assisted living, where Pinky comes to visit. Pinky is a bisexual “inked-up chick” with a nail in her nose, and her ex-girlfriend is a “lumbersexual” cop named Tonya. Sandy is cool with all that as long as Pinky takes out the nail and wears long sleeves when necessary. She's very athletic, was once a police cadet, and is happy to be a “queerdo.” And wouldn't you know, she lives next door to a guy she calls The Weird One, or TWO, who she becomes convinced is a spy. Anyway, she’s skeptical about the chief forcing sex on a guy. “She's a woman, Boss. Men still hate it when a female does what she wants with her body. These dudes' stories make no sense." And then a witness named Blanco dies, raising the stakes. Did the chief have him whacked? Or maybe it was TWO, who is a Hmong guy named Koob, or a superrich ex-cop real estate mogul nicknamed the Ritz. Pinky and her colorful cohorts are the book's main appeal, but readers wanting gunplay won’t be disappointed.

Turow clearly had fun writing this one, and his fans will have fun reading it.

Kirkus Reviews

Satisfyingly fresh and creative . . . Turow has created one of contemporary fiction’s most complicatedly arresting characters, one not easy to adore but one impossible to ignore.”

—Chicago Tribune

"Courtroom scenes remain gratifyingly sharp."—New York Times

“Turow clearly had fun writing this one, and his fans will have fun reading it.”—Kirkus

“Pinky’s unconventional, socially awkward narration offers a fresh take on sticky legal issues, and Turow’s carefully paced, tight plotting complements her dedication to the long game.”—Booklist

"Turow’s new protagonist is a breath of fresh air."—Los Angeles Times

"Since the ’80s, readers have considered bestselling author Scott Turow a king in the legal thriller genre, and in Suspect, he does not disappoint.”—The Big Thrill

“Turow’s a writer rather than just a plotter, as he demonstrates with his winning portrait of the protagonist of Suspect... More than earns its payoff.”—The Times

“Telling this story through Pinky Granum’s first-person eyes converts Suspect from a solid, well-plotted police-and-courtroom thriller into something unusually fresh and interesting . . . This is the stuff of a classic Turow thriller.”—BookTrib

“Readers will be drawn into Suspect’s narrative and their expectations challenged at each successive development in the case. With each new revelation about the players involved, readers will be left wanting to know more about them long after the book’s . . . ending.”

—Mystery Scene magazine

“Scott Turow . . . has ruled the legal thriller for a long time. In some ways, he just seems to get better, and his latest only further cements his place as one of the all-time greats.”—The Real Book Spy

"In this meticulously devised courtroom drama, rich with character detail, Turow again demonstrates what he does best: roll out a complex, keenly observed legal case yet save a boatload of surprises for its ending. And make it personal."—New York Times on The Last Trial

"Since Presumed Innocent rocked the publishing world, Scott Turow has cemented his status as a writer with few peers in any genre. Now the master is back with a brilliant courtroom chess match that shows us the human quotient in all its rot and virtue. The Last Trial is a first-class legal thriller."—David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Scott Turow set the gold standard for the modern legal thriller . . . A valedictory-tinged work."—Wall Street Journal on The Last Trial

"One of the major writers in America."—NPR

"No one tells this sort of story better than Turow. No one has illuminated the human side of the legal profession with such precision and care. The Last Trial is Scott Turow at his best and most ambitious. He has elevated the genre once again."—Washington Post

"This is thriller writing of the highest order, at once a brilliant character study and superb exploration of the nature, and relative merits, of the truth."—Providence Journal on The Last Trial

From the Publisher

Turow’s a writer rather than just a plotter, as he demonstrates with his winning portrait of the protagonist of Suspect…More than earns its payoff.”

The Times (London)

Readers will be drawn into Suspect’s narrative and their expectations challenged at each successive development in the case.”

Mystery Scene Magazine

Helen Laser’s unpretentious girl-next-door voice captures the edgy personality of P. I. Clarice “Pinky” Granum…Laser masterfully performs the male and female characters, conveying dispositions good and evil…Listeners are in for a totally engaging experience. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”

AudioFile