Customer Reviews

Missing Witness

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Young lawyer Doug McKenzie turns down a lucrative job at a big city firm in favor of a small partnership in Phoenix, with the stipulation that he be permitted to work with his idol Dan Morgan, who some call the greatest litagator there ever was. During his first few months on the job, however, Doug doesn't even meet Dan, let alone work with him. But then, the daughter-in-law of the firm's biggest client is accused of murdering her husband, and suddently Dan Morgan has another great case to litagate--and Doug, with his own personal connection to the defendent and her family, walks out on another opportunity (a golf tournament) to be at Dan's side. Doug and Dan pull out all of the stops for their beautiful defendent, but as the story continues, the are faced with an unexpected dilemma in the form of their defendant's daughter.

This is a page-turning legal thriller reminiscent of works by legal masters such as Turow and Grisham. In fact, Missing Witness reminded me in particular of the latter's The Firm, as Doug finds himself questioning his own actions as well as those of others around him. The suspense builds throughout the novel, and the reader is treated to some gripping courtroom scenes along the way. The early 70s setting does not seem to add much but is necessary for the legal precedents of that time. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and eagerly away author Campbell's next offering.

Gordon Campbell, an experienced trial attorney, proves himself an adroit and polished suspense writer in MISSING WITNESS, his debut as an author of fiction. He sets his story in 1973 Arizona and begins with two persons entering a little house. Six shots ring out. The front door opens again and the two emerge. One drops a gun as the property's sheep man, Juan Menchaka, who has been watching and listening from afar, runs to them. He looks inside and sees a man dead, in a pool of blood.

Soon Doug McKenzie, newly-hired associate at Butler and Menendez, gets to sit second chair as his firm's legendary defense lawyer, Dan Morgan, tries to prove their client, beautiful Rita Eddington, innocent of gunning down her husband, Travis. Peculiarly, wealthy rancher Ferris Eddington, Travis' father, insists on personally bankrolling his daughter-in-law's first-class defense. Dan tells Doug that to get Rita acquitted, they must prove the other person who entered house with Rita killed Travis. That would be 12-year-old Miranda Eddington, Rita and Travis' daughter, who has a history of mental problems and who went into an apparently catatonic state when she was transported to jail with her mother after the shooting!

Rita's trial proceeds with many nail-biting moments as the artful but high-strung and haunted Dan Morgan pulls out all the stops -- legal and a few not so legal -- to try to win Rita's freedom. Doug, who has never tried a case before, gets a whale of an education, not only regarding courtroom strategy and tactics but also concerning the position and power jockeying amongst the partners in the firm. Doug "Yes, sir"s and "No, sir"s so often one almost thinks he is toadying. But, no, he is a well-mannered young attorney with a great deal to learn. And learn he does. Actually, Doug, not burdened in 1973 by the regrets and disappointments that weigh on Dan, displays better judgment and insight than his gone-to-seed legal mentor at times.

MISSING WITNESS is a man's book in the sense that it is told entirely from the male perspective, and it projects some biases liable to offend feminists and even non-feminist women. But this story takes place in the early 1970s, so the political correctness to which we are accustomed is rightfully not yet mainstream. Still, if anything underachieves in this superb thriller, it is the alleged motives for the murder that drive the plot; they could come right out of TV's LAW AND ORDER.

But I'm not going to hold any niggling reservations against Campbell. He has written a first-rate, ingenious courtroom drama. The trial's closing arguments in the final pages of the novel are brilliant, as is the twist revealed after their delivery. For aficionados of legal fiction, MISSING WITNESS is about as close to book heaven as one can get.

As I write this review, "Missing Witness" ranks #23 on the Amazon bestseller list in the category of legal thrillers. It deserves to be even higher, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes the genre. More significantly, I would also recommend it to law students and practicing lawyers, even those who have given up on legal fiction of the type put out by John Grisham. "Missing Witness" contains a fascinating application of trial strategy issues. In fact, I used it in a class I teach at George Washington University Law School. My students and I recently discussed how litigators go about proving that something did not happen. This is generally done by calling a witness from some organization that has a reason to record such an event, like a business or a government agency. In other words, to prove that someone accused of a tax crime had not filed a tax return for a particular year, a federal prosecutor will generally call a witness from the IRS to describe how he/she searched the IRS records and did not come up with any hits. This process follows the Federal Rule of Evidence involving records customarily kept in the course of an organization's business. Is it legally correct? It seems to technically conflict with a constitutional rule that criminal defendants have a right to confront their accusers, a point I learned from a veteran trial lawyer I was fortunate enough to work under early in my career, and I have never seen the paradox described in writing. "Missing Witness" has a scene in which this dilemma is depicted in the context of a phone company employee called to establish that a particular call to the police department did not occur. Reading it, it was almost as if Gordon Campbell was that person who taught me, so similar is his treatment of this fine legal point. It is truly rare to find such a good writer among practicing lawyers and "Missing Witness" is more literary than most legal thrillers. It is a cut above. The characters are flawed like real people, rather than super heroes, and of a type more often seen in books by Faulker or Hemmingway than Grisham or Turow. Let's hope that Campbell is just getting warmed up, and that we can expect more books from him in the future.

MISSING WITNESS by Gordon Campbell (a trial attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah) takes place in Phoenix, Arizona in 1973 and is told through the voice of Doug McKenzie, a newly-minted attorney who has turned down an offer to practice with a prestigious San Francisco firm for the chance to litigate in his hometown of Phoenix as an associate in a smaller, less lustrous partnership. The reason is that McKenzie wishes to work with his role model, a criminal attorney named Dan Morgan. He gets his chance when Rita Eddington, accompanied by her 12-year-old daughter Miranda, pays a visit to Travis, her estranged husband. Travis is shot to death, with mother and daughter being the only eyewitnesses. When Rita is charged with murder, Travis's father, a local landowner of great wealth, retains Morgan to defend his daughter-in-law.

The incident has left Miranda in a catatonic state, so that she is unable to testify as to what happened between her father and mother. Yet Morgan, an eccentric, hard-drinking litigator who is able to think outside the box, believes he can successfully defend his client with a daring strategy. McKenzie quickly learns, however, that life in a law firm is not at all what he imagined it would be, even as he slowly becomes aware that his hometown, which he thought he knew so well, hides secrets at every turn, one of which comes back to haunt both Morgan and McKenzie when they least suspect it.

Campbell is a masterful and spellbinding wordsmith whose ability does not begin and end at creating and telling a superb story. One example: a brief but important vignette in the book takes place in Henry Africa's, a San Francisco fern bar that reached the height of its popularity in the early 1970s. I spent a great deal of time in that establishment, and Campbell's description of it, from décor to ambience, is so spot-on that while reading the passages concerning it, I could once again taste the Irish coffee that I drank on an almost daily basis there. Those familiar with 1973 Phoenix undoubtedly will feel the same way.

On top of everything, the author leaves his readers with an ending that is incredibly uplifting, unbelievable in some ways yet ultimately entirely credible. The last three paragraphs are worth the price of the book alone (don't peek ahead, for if you do, the ending will mean nothing to you) yet encapsulate the one word that is the motivator behind the main story: hope.

MISSING WITNESS seems to have been published with little fanfare, yet this is the type of novel that will be recommended, passed around, talked about and read multiple times.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

I have reviewed over 500 books on Amazon. I cannot remember one that captivated me as much as this one. Interesting characters, cleverly drawn plot and a knack for storytelling that is unusual in a first time author is what you get from this new author.

The trial aspects of the story are especially well done, even when looked at through the eyes of one who practiced trial law for over forty years. You have to have been there to be able to write as Gordon Campbell does.

Totally oustanding novel! If you read only one novel this year, you could do no better than to pick this one.

Doug McKenzie wants to work with Dan Morgan so badly that he turns down an offer from a more prestegious firm in order to join Morgan's.

While Doug is playing in the state amature golf championships with Morgan as his caddy and commentator, Morgan gets word that one of the firms' wealthiest clients, Ferris Eddington's daughter-in-law has just murdered Ferris' only son and Ferris wants Morgan to defend her.

Morgan accepts and Doug assists. They defend Rita Eddington successfully while her twelve year old daughter Miranda lays in catonic state after the scene where the murder took place. The trial is set from wha Rita tells Morgan and the court scenes are well done.

The prosecution is led by a somewhat sterertypically bungling attorney named Maximilan Houser.

The story takes place in Arizona and much of the discussion is of the murder which took place on Eddington's rance. The descriptions of ranch live and the setting have a feel for "Lonesome Dove" as Blue Duck faces his last battle in the courtroom.

The writing style is precise and in tune with the characters who are well drawn and likable. The author provides some excellent plot twists and his courtroom drama is well done.

Highly recommended.

In 1973 in Phoenix, Arizona, Rita Eddington and her twelve-year-old daughter Miranda enter a house where the mother fires shots killing her husband. The police arrest Rita with the murder of Travis. The DA and the cops believe this is a slam dunk case as the only other suspect is Miranda whose witnessing of the homicide left her catatonic (obviously the title character).

Surprisingly Rita's wealthy father-in-law Ferris hires the best defense attorney in the state Dan Morgan of Morgan and McKenzie. Morgan and his able second chair Doug McKenzie believe their client is guilty based on the overwhelming evidence although the latter has a problem with that concept as he has known Rita all his life and cannot envision her committing murder. Still they plan the best defense they can mount as they just need an iota of doubt in the mind of one juror.

This is an intriguing legal procedural that sub-genre purists who prefer plenty of legal maneuvers over action will want to read this. The story line starts off with an interesting premise of a father-in-law hiring the best lawyer in the state to defend his daughter-in-law on trial for killing his son. Fans, Dan and Doug wonder why especially Morgan who knows the Eddington family as close friends. MISSING WITNESS is an insightful suspense tale brings the jurisprudence system under a close up microscope.

Harriet Klausner

Gordon Campbell's book, Missing Witness, is like a double album of classic rock riffs collected over a lifetime. There is so much crammmed in there, that you wonder if he has anything left for his next venture. The main characters, a veteran trial lawyer and his young understudy, build up their case in blind allegiance to their client, indulging questionable theories at all costs, and making unbelievable arguments to acquit their client that inevitably come back around to haunt. Somewhere around the middle, after the first trial, they tear it all down, and take the opposite side of the adversarial argument, the way lawyers are trained to do in theory, but seldom if ever get the chance to do outside of books like this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the double entendre and the subtle truths about the legal system from a true insider.

This is a fun book. And as a bonus, he is right on with the law and the times in which it is written, which is something you rarely see in the McGrishams.

Her husband lies dead from bullets fired from her gun, she's under arrest, and the only other person who was there, her twelve-year old daughter, is hospitalized in a catatonic state and unable to provide testimony.

But the woman's father-in-law hires hard-drinking, hard-living Dan Morgan to defend her. Morgan is widely known as the best trial lawyer in Phoenix, and with his young protégée, Doug McKenzie (who has ties to the dead man's family), they set out to win the case.

Unless you're in the legal field, it's possible Missing Witness will start out slow for you. Sluggish in spots, and dripping with legalese, you may get frustrated waiting for the story to begin-as I did. But don't give up because your persistence will be rewarded.

Campbell provides us with a humanistic exposé on the legal system, showing the individual flaws and the unstoppable egos; the desperation to succeed and the burden of responsibility toward clients. Not to mention the need for attorneys to feed money into the coffers of their law firms, which are filled with competitive, calculating, and sometimes, caring men and women.

With the kind of information only an insider can provide, Campbell (who is a practicing attorney), shows us the creative side of law--theater in the courtroom--and the planning that goes into it.

Missing Witness comes together in the end, and with the exception of one scene, it all makes sense and is indeed, a good tale.

Armchair Interviews says: Recommended.

I'm not sure what all the hype is about this book. I thought it just 'ok.' I thought the courtroom scenes were so lengthy and the second trial ended like a bad Hollywood ending. There were some interesting plot developments (the scarf, the telephone operator Doug went to find in San Francisco), but all in all, a rather dull read. Not recommended to mystery readers or readers in general.