Book Tour Review – The Wages of Sin

The Wages of Sin

by Nancy Allen

on Tour April 26 – May 11, 2016

Today I am hosting a tour of the above book for Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. this is the first one I’ve hosted for a few years, but I hope to get back to doing this again on a more regular basis.

 

“The Elsie Arnold series deserves to run and run.”— Alex Marwood, author ofThe Wicked Girls and The Killer Next Door

In rural McCown County, Missouri, a young pregnant woman is found beaten to death in a trailer park. The only witness to the murder is Ivy, her six-year-old daughter, who points to her mom’s boyfriend—father of the unborn child. County prosecutor Madeleine Thompson promises the community justice, and in the Ozarks, that can only mean one thing: a death sentence.

When Madeleine’s first choice for co-counsel declines to try a death penalty case, she is forced to turn to assistant prosecutor Elsie Arnold. Elsie is reluctant to join forces with her frosty boss, but the road to conviction seems smooth—until unexpected facts about the victim arise, and the testimony of the lone eyewitness Ivy becomes increasingly crucial. Against Elsie’s advice, Madeleine brings in the state attorney general’s office to assist them, while cutthroat trial attorney Claire O’Hara joins the defense.

Elsie will not let the power of prosecution—of seeking justice—be wrested from her without a fight. She wants to win the case, and to avenge the death of the mother and her unborn child. But as the trial nears, Elsie begins to harbor doubts about the death penalty itself. Meanwhile, the child Ivy is in greater danger than anyone knows.

“Unflinching and gritty.” — Library Journal

Book Details:

Genre: Legal Thriller, Crime
Published by: Witness Impulse
Publication Date: 04/26/2016
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 0062438751 (9780062438751)
Series: An Ozarks Mystery, 3rd | Each is a Stand Alone Thriller
Purchase Links:

Tour Info:

Book Formats: Edelweiss
Hosting Options: Review, Interview, Guest Post, Excerpt
Giveaway: None

Author Bio:

Nancy Allen practiced law for 15 years as Assistant Missouri Attorney General and Assistant Prosecutor in her native Ozarks. She has tried over 30 jury trials, including murder and sexual offenses, and is now a law instructor at Missouri State University. Her first novel,The Code of the Hills, was published by HarperCollins in 2014. The Wages of Sin, is the third book in her Ozarks mystery series.

Catch Up with Nancy Allen:

My review (as hosted on GoodReads):

The Wages of Sin by Nancy Allen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Although The Wages of Sin is the third book in Nancy Allen’s Ozarks Mysteries series, it is the first one I have read. I was a little worried about this as I started to read it, but my fears were soon allayed and the book stood up by itself without the need to have read the previous two. Having said that, however, at some point I’d love to go back and read the first two.

The book commences with the unsavoury murder of a pregnant woman by her boyfriend and from there the story slowly opens up and we are introduced to a world that many of us know exists, but have had none or very little experience of. Unfortunately, the murder is witnessed by the six-year old daughter, Ivy, of the woman who is killed. Sadly, for this young girl there is also someone else present – a fiend of the murderer, who also happens to be a former lover of the murder victim.

The book centres around the ensuing court case and is a fascinating study of both the details of such a trial and life in a small town in the Ozarks. The main character is Elsie Arnold, a no-nonsense lawyer working for the Prosecutor’s office. She is surrounded by a well-developed cast of characters, who all add something different and unique to the story as it unfolds.

As the court case headed towards its conclusion there were many interesting twists and turns, along with interesting developments, many of which centred around the little girls, Ivy. It was difficult not to feel sorry for this girl, who, in her short life so far, had experienced too hard a life and seen too much of the dark side of humanity for one so young. She is caught in the middle of those who want her to speak and those who want her to be quiet. If she doesn’t speak the case could fall apart, but if she does speak her testimony could lead to at least one powerful person beyond the person on trial.

I don’t want to give too much away, so that’s all I want to reveal about the story. The Wages of Sin is a well-written book, with a number of multi-dimensional characters, who interact/intersect with each other in very believable ways. It’s not a fast-paced book, but it moves along at a pace that keeps you interested. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would and i’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good court-case story.

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This post is part of a tour organized by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours. Please click on the picture below for details of other tours and how you can become a host:

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.