From the former Chief Justice of Canada comes a riveting thriller starring Jilly Truitt, a rising, young defense attorney faced with a case that hits close to home. A searing look at what justice means in the courts and on the streets, Full Disclosure is perfect for fans of Kathy Reichs, Louise Penny, and Lisa Scottoline.
When everyone has something to hide, the truth is the only defense.
There’s nothing Jilly Truitt likes more than winning a case, especially against her former mentor, prosecutor Cy Kenge. Jilly has baggage, the residue of a dark time in a series of foster homes, but that’s in the past. Now she’s building her own criminal defense firm and making a name for herself as a tough-as-nails lawyer willing to take risks in the courtroom.
When the affluent and enigmatic Vincent Trussardi is accused of his wife Laura’s murder, Jilly agrees to defend him, despite predictions that the case is a sure loser and warnings from those close to her to stay away from the Trussardi family. Determined to prove everyone wrong, Jilly investigates Laura’s death, hoping to discover a shred of evidence that might give the jury a reasonable doubt. Instead, she is confronted by damning evidence and uncooperative witnesses at every turn. Someone isn’t telling the truth, but who?
With her reputation and Vincent’s life on the line, Jilly tries to unravel the web of secrets surrounding Laura’s murder. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a startling revelation that will change not only the case, but her life forever.
From the gritty streets of Vancouver to the fateful halls of justice, Full Disclosure is a razor-sharp thriller that pulses with authenticity and intrigue.
I mean, a book written by the former Chief Justice of Canada, I just had to—right? Yes, I did. Anyway, this novel classifies as that very very specific trope of “legal thriller.” It really is such a niche area of thrillers, but I’ve come to at least enjoy dabbling in them over the years, and one written by the former Chief Justice certainly couldn’t escape me.
Full Disclosure follows our protagonist, Jilly Truit, who despite a difficult past has come up to be a prominent and successful defence lawyer. Of course, she will often face her former mentor, the Crown prosecutor in criminal trials. This book revolves around the case of Vincent Trussardi, a seemingly open-and-shut case of homicidal rage by a jealous husband. Or is it? As Jilly digs deeper and deeper in the case, there seems to be something that the family is hiding, and she won’t stop at anything to win her case.
The characters in this book were pretty decent. It really focused mainly on our two main characters and the parties involved in the trial. However, I thought for a legal thriller the amount of exploration of the characters was really appropriate. Something not too light and not too deep so that we’d be able to care as we followed along with the story. I definitely liked the protagonist so that made it easy to follow along with the story. She did fall into the trope that she tried to avoid sometimes, which wasn’t my favourite, but for the most part I was really rooting for her basically the entire time.
The plot was decent but nothing altogether too special. The suspense was also not very intense. However, the story did have really good intrigue, and I did want to know the secret of the whole story from the beginning to the end. There were also a number of smaller storylines that were woven together pretty well, and I saw the connection. I didn’t feel that they were absurd, but sometimes the interweaving was possibly too much, in my opinion, and lost some plausibility. But I’ll give it a pass because crazy things do happen in real life sometimes.
In general the suspense was good and it really does make you wonder how the case will end up, and the ending was also decent. It wasn’t entirely unpredictable, but watching how it all shook down kept for more intrigue as well. There were a couple of plot points that I probably could have lived without, but I think these sorts of things come down to personal preference. Overall I still enjoyed the book and I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series, Denial.
It feels like I gave a rather drab review, but I am definitely interested in what else the series has to offer. The book is clearly set up with a slight cliffhanger ending, ready for the next book. Stay tuned for that review too!
Overall Recommendations
Full Disclosure follows the up and coming defence attorney, Jilly Truit, as she battles her way through a major homicide case against her former mentor, the Crown prosecutor. With a burdened past, Jilly struggles constantly to prove herself, and to really stand for the idea of innocent until proven guilty. As she digs into the case, more and more secrets come to light that people have long since tried to bury. Some of these secrets may want to stay buried too, but just how far are they willing to go to do so? Find out in this legal thriller as Jilly battles her way through the toughest case her city has seen in a long while!
Down the Rabbit Hole 