Falsely Accused [Hardcover]

Robert K. Tanenbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

While defending the unfairly fired Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, Butch Karp uncovers the first clues to a massive cover-up by the district attorney that leads to a battered girl whom his former partner Marlene Ciampi is helping. 50,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The dynamic crime-solving duo of Butch Karp and his feisty wife, Marlene Ciampi, is back, and this time they have an extra set of brains: their 7-year-old daughter, Lucy. Falsely Accused is Robert K. Tanenbaum's eighth book in this ongoing series featuring Butch and Marlene as they uncover big-city misdeeds, sleaze, and corruption. In this edge-of-the-seat thriller, Butch is working as a litigator for a New York law firm, defending a bigwig client named Murray Selig, who was recently fired as chief medical examiner. The circumstances surrounding Selig's dismissal are questionable to say the least, and very soon a veritable hot pot of political wrongdoings is exposed. Meanwhile, Marlene is busy burning the candle at both ends--she's a full-time mom to the precocious Lucy, and she also heads a detective agency specializing in the protection of battered women--here she encounters more troubles. Tanenbaum brilliantly blends together several subplots and mininarratives--what is the secret of the two refugee children? What are the mayor and D.A. hiding? What is the story behind the deaths of several New York cabbies? Tanenbaum convincingly (and amazingly) pulls together these separate plots into a gripping conclusion.

Falsely Accused is more than just a suspenseful thriller--it is a fascinating exploration of legal and courtroom procedures, recounted in scrupulous detail. Fans of Butch and Marlene (and Lucy!) will not be disappointed.

From Publishers Weekly

Followers of Tanenbaum's intelligent, 1970s-set series (Corruption of Blood, etc.) featuring married lawyers Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi will find that the author's punchy style perfectly suits his latest three-ring crime spectacle. After years on New York City payrolls, both attorneys have quit for private work?Karp for a top firm and Marlene, after keeping house for a while, to start a detective agency with her burnt-out ex-cop pal Harry Bello. For his first case, Karp represents Manhattan's Chief Medical Examiner as he sues to get his job back plus damages after he has been fired by the mayor working in tandem with Karp's old nemesis, D.A. Sanford Bloom. Marlene finds her new challenge in the schoolyard where her seven-year-old daughter, Lucy, plays. When a young mother ask Marlene's help in stopping a stalker, Marlene's sleuthing leads her to a Lower East Side women's shelter where Lucy befriends two traumatized children and insists that her mother help them. The plot curve, unsurprisingly to those who know the series, is tossed by regal but ever-difficult journalist Ariadne Stupenagel, Marlene's pushy college buddy, who's digging into the suspicious suicides?while in police custody?of three gypsy cabbies. What she unearths is improbably connected to both Marlene's and Karp's cases. The links among these three very dissimilar narrative threads strains credulity, but Tanenbaum's talent is large, and so are his characters. These assets, along with a shot of genuine compassion for the troubles of children, enable him to just pull this one off. If readers won't quite believe the shockingly unconventional resolution, they'll still be affected by it, leaving them eager to know where this heroic family of crimefighters goes from here.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525941681
• ISBN-13: 978-0525941682
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert K. Tanenbaum is one of the country's most successful trial lawyers -- he has never lost a felony case. He has been homicide bureau chief for the New York District Attorney's Office and deputy chief counsel to the congressional committee investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Most recently, he has taught Advanced Criminal Procedure atthe University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. His previous works include the novels Escape, Malice, Fury, Hoax, Resolved, Enemy Within, and Absolute Rage and two true-crime books, The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer and Badge of the Assassin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back on form!, April 3, 2005

By 

Caroline Myddelton (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Falsely Accused (Paperback)

Having eagerly devoured the previous Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi novels, I was disappointed with the last one, Corruption of Blood, which dealt with the Kennedy assassination. But luckily Falsely Accused is right back on track, with our heroes in New York again. Although Butch is working for a firm of civil lawyers and Marlene is striking out on a new and different career, their cases lead them to dealings with the DA's department and the infamous DA himself, Sandy Bloom. Will Karp get revenge at last for Bloom's treatment of himself and Marlene?

The plot develops satisfyingly, with Karp's and Marlene's separate cases meshing, as they so often do, to enable a joint (if not wholly plausible) resolution. But hey, who's counting!

It's not just the plotting which I find so enchanting about these books. The characterisation is fine, with the good guys being reassuringly flawed - even the rather goody-goody Butch is rounding out as the series develops. Lucy is perhaps less well-drawn, being by turns baby-ish for a 7-year old and then stunningly precocious.

Most of all, I enjoy the style, the quality of the writing itself. Tanenbaum has a great ear for dialogue, for the way people switch topics in mid-conversation; his characters talk like real people, only more amusingly. Altogether, he has a delightful way with words, being at times wry, whimsical and ironic. I find myself jotting down some of his wittier phrases to use, er, spontaneously myself in conversation... Sincerest form of flattery, and all that!

I'm glad I've read the series in order, and if someone was thinking of starting with this book I'd recommend them to go back to the beginning. Maybe skip out Corruption of Blood unless you're really keen to read more Kennedy assassination theories - and enjoy Falsely Accused, which finds Tanenbaum once more at the height of his powers.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery lover's ideal book, May 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Falsely Accused (Paperback)

This book has EVERYTHING for the mystery lover - interwoven plots, snappy dialogue, narrative flow, memorable characters and a great ending, consistent with the story lines. I had never read Tanenbaum, but found the book at a rummage sale. He moved me right into his fictional world with the first page.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Controversial resolution, November 3, 1997

By 

N. Sausser "pucksau" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Falsely Accused (Paperback)

The first half of this book is kind of slow going until the three separate story lines start coming together. The second half zips along pretty good. I agree with one of the other reviewers...I was surprised and a little dismayed in the part that seven year old Lucy played in the end. Leaves a person with a lot to think about.