When everyone is in denial, how do you find the truth?
Jilly Truitt has made a name for herself as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in the city. Where once she had to take just about any case to keep her firm afloat, now she has her pick—and she picks winners.
So when Joseph Quentin asks her to defend his wife, who has been charged with murdering her own mother in what the media are calling a mercy killing, every instinct tells Jilly to say no. Word on the street is that Vera Quentin is in denial, refusing to admit to the crime and take a lenient plea deal. Quentin is a lawyer’s lawyer, known as the Fixer in legal circles, and if he can’t help his wife, who can?
Against her better judgment, Jilly meets with Vera and reluctantly agrees to take on her case. Call it intuition, call it sympathy, but something about Vera makes Jilly believe she’s telling the truth. Now, she has to prove that in the courtroom against her former mentor turned opponent, prosecutor Cy Kenge—a man who has no qualms about bending the rules.
As the trial approaches, Jilly scrambles to find a crack in the case and stumbles across a dark truth hanging over the Quentin family. But is it enough to prove Vera’s innocence? Or is Jilly in denial herself?
Thrumming with tension, Denial is a riveting thriller about the lengths we will go to for the ones we love and the truths we hold dear.
After reading the first novel in this series, Full Disclosure, I didn’t have the highest of high expectations. Yes, I was still interested in reading the second book in the series by the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, but I definitely readied myself for more of the same from the first book. However, I was actually completely blown away by this book. Since when has the second book in the series ever been better than the first?! Overall this was just dramatically better for me, and I do wonder if it was due to the feedback from the first book.
Denial follows our defence lawyer extraordinaire, Jilly Truit, in another set of proceedings once again. As usual, Jilly is fighting the uphill battle, as the case once again seems locked and done. In a locked house, with no alarms tripped, frail and old Olivia Stanton passed away in her sleep from a morphine overdose. The only person in the house at the time? Her daughter, Vera, sleeping soundly upstairs. Vera soundly maintains her innocence, even as the flames of the trial licks at her heels. Just how will Jilly be able to defend her client in such a tough situation?
First of all, I just wanted to say that the title is so good. Whereas Full Disclosure (book one) was a decent title, it didn’t feel more impactful than just that. However, denial really was the theme of this book. Was Vera, the only possible suspect in the case, just in denial because of her difficult past with mental health and about her mother? Was her husband in denial, asking Jilly Truit to defend a case he knew there was no hope of winning? Or was Jilly herself in denial, by taking on an un-winnable case? There were so many themes of denial explored in this book, and I think it was really well done, keeping me on the edge of my seat about whether or not someone (including myself!) was just in denial about what had really happened.
The characters were all excellent in this book. They were all suspicious, of course, and you could never really tell if their story was truly reliable or if they were just in denial(!), and you could really see the family dynamic of the deceased and her family take shape as the book (and trial) went on. Vera was such a pivotal character in this book, but I really couldn’t decide what to feel about her, even until the very end. In that sense there were some Verity vibes, if you know what I mean. Although more of a legal thriller, there were definitely a lot more psychological thriller elements in this story, and a lot of it was woven into these characters you just can’t quite trust fully. Just from the way the book is written, it is clear that all the characters had something to hide, and this really made each character come to life—after all, no one is that forthcoming, right?
The plot was also really excellent in this book, and the side plot(s) didn’t take away from the main plot and, in fact, actually added to it. The way the story shifted and family dynamics became more clear as the trial went on was well-executed, and it was an excellent balance of pacing, but not giving too much away. It sped up a little bit at the end, but that may be appropriate for a legal thriller, as certain time frames have to be followed. Evidence kept coming out in the trial in a sequential way, which was so gripping, as each piece of evidence would clearly sway the jury one way or another, and it was really hard to tell where the dice would land.
I have said previously that legal thrillers tend to be a bit less classically “thrilling” in favour of the uncertainties of the legal system and the way a whole life could change through a trial. However, I can probably eat those words now, because I found this legal thriller/murder mystery extremely thrilling. Jilly’s own life was an emotional rollercoaster in this case, and honestly it was a reflection of the trial itself, which I found to have very apt symmetry. The more I read of this book, the more I wanted to read it faster, and my pace of reading did increase as I neared the end.
Here’s where I must hold myself back from the highest praise though, because the denouement and ending weren’t my absolute favourite. By no means was it a disappointment or a let down in any sense, but I think for a 5-star, I would have wanted something even more convincing. I was able to accept the big reveal and the ending without much problem, and I think it was plausible, but the more unlikely events that are cobbled together, the less convincing the explanation is overall, and the more it feels like a cop-out to explain everything that was built up in the book. It didn’t reach that point, but I think there was a tiny loophole in the book that I would have liked seen covered in a different way though.
That aside though, everything else was so, so good (again, keep in mind this is a book two!). The emotional journey, the slow reveal of the family and their secrets, and Jilly’s own personal journey. Everything was really suspenseful and impactful, and I think I really felt it. I cannot wait for book three, Proof, coming out in 2024!
Overall Recommendations
Denial is the second book in the Jilly Truit series, and it is no slouch. Packed full of the courtroom drama that we all love, an emotionally turbulent book two really brings to life the tragedies of a family’s love. If you enjoyed book one, definitely read this one. If you didn’t enjoy book one as much, I’d still recommend giving this one a try. I felt that everything was more intense and well-executed in this second book. Keep a lookout for book three coming out in 2024 too!
Down the Rabbit Hole 