Sandrine's Case

Narrator Brian Holsopple dishes out just the right recipe of pathos, irony, tenderness, and style in Cook's latest. A university professor is on trial for the murder of his wife, Sandrine, who was also a teacher at the same college. In this is story of rediscovered love--albeit too late--the listener is treated to 10 days of courtroom drama juxtaposed with deep revelations about the defendant, the alleged victim, and their daughter. Sometimes it's difficult to focus on the human side of the story in the face of all the legalisms. Nonetheless, Holsopple deftly switches from prosecutor to witness, and then to the defendant himself. His voices are distinctive and appropriate for the multiplicity of characters as you wonder if Sandrine's death was murder--or a suicide for the purpose of framing her husband? Stay with Holsopple for the verdict and the unusual ending. It will be worth it. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Starred review from June 17, 2013
In this slow-burning, intricate thriller from Edgar-winner Cook (The Crime of Julian Wells), Sam Madison and his wife, Sandrine, both professors at Georgia’s Coburn College (he of literature, she of history) and parents of a grown daughter, appear to have a solid marriage. But below the surface there are problems, which culminate in Sandrine’s death from a cocktail of Demerol and vodka. While the coroner rules the death a suicide, the police suspect foul play and soon zero in on Sam as his wife’s killer. The local prosecutor is so certain of Sam’s guilt that he seeks the death penalty. In the course of the murder trial, which runs from unexpected revelations on the witness stand to torrents of legalese as the attorneys jockey for power, Sam reflects on his relationship with the brilliant, beautiful, and vexing Sandrine. Through Sam’s memories, Cook pulls off the tricky task of rendering Sandrine—a lover of ancient history, particularly Cleopatra, and the intricacies of language—as vividly as if she had never died. This crime novel, one of his best, builds to an unforeseen, but earned, climax.