There is a subset of suspense in which a protagonist is asked to solve a crime involving someone they know. Often this is the premise for an amateur sleuth: a loyal friend is motivated to do a separate investigation when the police seem stalled. There are also books where the protagonist is a defense attorney who is asked to take the case of someone they know.
Just last week, I reviewed A Good Marriage. Lizzie is a bored lawyer hired by a college crush to defend him when his wife is found dead in their home.
Zach is a tech millionaire who may or may not have done it. Is he using Lizzie because she feels guilty for once rejecting him?
In a similar vein is Alafair Burke’s The Ex. Olivia Coleman is fledgling as a ninth-year associate. A friend’s uncle agrees to take her on when it is clear she can’t cut it on the partner track. Soon after, Olivia’s college boyfriend, Jack, is suspected of a triple homicide. He has gunshot residue on his clothing and a clear motive. Can Olivia get an aquittal? Should she?
While far fetched, the premise has some obvious appeal. In this scenario, the protagonists’ legal futures are in doubt; they need a win. There is also a chance that they are being played by an ex, which raises the stakes further. An average lawyer and a romantic fool? Nobody wants to experience that at midlife.
They both have clever plotting. Jack was possibly catfished into showing up at the crime scene and the details here are fun. He also has an understandable motive and may have hired Olivia as revenge for their breakup. There is also the sense that Olivia is just one drunken night away from ruining her career. In The Good Marriage, Zach seems like the obvious culprit. But readers know never to suspect the most obvious character, right?
One fictional scenario I have never seen: a protagonist is asked to prosecute a friend or ex. I guess that’s just too much of a stretch.
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