Equivocal Death [Mass Market Paperback]

Amy Gutman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003

Catapulting readers into a world of deception, legal maneuvering, and murder, Gutman's acclaimed debut is now in paperback. Just when Kate Paine is on the fast track at the nation's most powerful law firm, a murder sends her world spiraling out of control.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Harvard Law School graduate Kate Paine, heroine of Amy Gutman's Equivocal Death, is supposed to be smart. But as the new hire at Samson & Mills, one of the country's most powerful and successful firms, she can't figure out who's behind the murder of partner Madeleine Waters. She's also gullible enough to buy the lies the other partners are spinning to keep the firm from collapsing, or maybe she's too busy to figure out their deceptions. When she's not working 90 hours a week, she's fretting over the law school romance that went up in flames and left her unwilling to trust any man except Justin Daniels, her platonic buddy from her Cambridge days, and Carter Mills, the senior partner who hired her. She barely has time to spare for the appealing inner-city teenager she's supposed to be mentoring, but Josie understands Kate enough to know that when she's late for an appointment, she must be in trouble.

Unfortunately, Josie's not around when Kate has an ugly encounter with the firm's biggest client--an incident Kate keeps to herself, which further underlines the reader's impression that she's too dumb to have made it as far as she has in the cutthroat world she inhabits. Certainly, she's too slow on the uptake to see the clues that point to the murderer, whom most readers will have figured out many pages before the conclusion of this tepid thriller. Gutman's writing is clear enough, but her characters are one-dimensional. Fans who aren't too choosy about their legal thrillers or just can't wait for the next Grisham may not be bothered by these shortcomings. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Gutman's debut woman-in-peril crime thriller set amid the skullduggery of a prestigious New York City law firm provides doses of good, light entertainment but suffers from a serious case of plot overload and red herringitis. Weaving her way through the tangle is Kate Paine, a rising star at Samson & Mills and a favorite of the firm's managing partner, Carter Mills. Soon after immersing herself in an important sexual harassment case, Paine is taken aside by Madeleine Waters, one of the firm's few female partners and Mills's former lover, and is cryptically told to be careful. Before Paine has time to ask for an explanation, Waters's body is found in the Hudson River. Paine, horrified but intrigued by Waters's death, starts poking around and uncovers sinister evidence of bitter rivalries, sexual affairs and a billing scandal at Samson & Mills. When she is sexually assaulted one night in her office, she begins to fear for her life. Is it coincidence that she resembles Madeleine Waters? Then Carter Mills is shot. Did he commit suicide? In between these breathless twists and turns, Gutman, an attorney, colorfully describes what life is like for young lawyers in high-powered law firms. Her story, despite its many unnecessary sidelights and extraneous characters, maintains a measure of suspense until the end. Paine, however, disappoints as a marquee player. Weak-willed and prone to flee from trouble, she's hardly the take-charge type truly prepared to battle evil. Agent, Nick Ellison. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446609056
• ISBN-13: 978-0446609050
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,455,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sophisticated, exciting, and a pleasure to read, February 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Equivocal Death: A Novel (Hardcover)

Equivocal Death is a sophisticated and highly engaging thriller from a talented new author. It delivers suspense, atmosphere, and even a rare glimpse inside the Harvard Club of New York City. But the novel has a lot to offer besides great entertainment: It is also an honest and thoughtful examination of the limited lives of lawyers working in huge firms, by someone who's been immersed in that world.

"Equivocal death" is a police term for an ambiguous death scene which could be either a murder or a suicide. The phrase has this meaning in Gutman's novel, but it is also a metaphor for the main character's ongoing spiritual death as she encloses herself in a seemingly stable and safe but actually quietly deadly world of nonstop work. Is it murder or slow suicide? These important questions dovetail nicely with the fast-paced crime plot of Equivocal Death.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Debut, January 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Equivocal Death: A Novel (Hardcover)

I just finished reading Equivocal Death, and I have to say--it's a great book. It's a gripping, well-constructed thriller with a very appealing protagonist. And it definitely meets the can't-go-to-sleep-till-you-know-how-it-ends test. But it's also got something larger to say. Not just about law and big-time law firms (though the author gets that part exactly right). But about people who use careers and institutions to cut themselves off from the world. Definitely a gripping, rewarding read.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner with a Message, February 9, 2001

By 

Jessie Krause (New York NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Equivocal Death: A Novel (Hardcover)

This novel is as much about the insanity of life in the city as it is about the insanity of a killer. Kate Paine, the protagonist, driven like all the rest of those seeking fame and fortune in the big apple, is so caught up in the whirlpool of work, that she cannot see what is really happening to her and her co-workers. Murder, the ultimate crime, comes off almost as an inconvenience to those she admires and strives to become at the prestigious law firm where she works. She is so caught up in society's expectations, she finds she is slowly losing her mind - and ultimately - her life. This novel is a great parable of our time. Whatever it takes to get ahead, there is no time to stop and mourn over those we have destroyed in our path. A page turner with the time to stop and consider the irony of working yourself to death.