Review of "The Heavens May Fall: A Detective Max Rupert Mystery" by Allen Eskens

In this 3rd book in the 'Detective Max Rupert' series, the detective and his good friend - defense lawyer Boady Sanden - are on opposite sides of a case. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

When the body of Jennavieve Pruitt is found in a Minnesota alley, wrapped in a child's quilt, Detective Max Rupert catches the case. The spouse of a murder victim is always a person of interest, so Rupert immediately focuses on Jennavieve's husband - criminal defense lawyer Ben Pruitt. Moreover, the detective would especially like to pin the murder on Ben because of a personal grudge.



When interviewed, Ben says he flew to a lawyers' conference in Chicago on the day of the murder. However Rupert thinks Ben got a car in Chicago, drove to Minnesota (a 6-hour-trip), killed Jennavieve, dumped the body, and drove back to Chicago. Rupert also believes CCTV tapes from toll booths will show this.....but the tapes will take weeks to check out.



In the meantime, a neighbor of the Pruitts claims she saw Ben enter the family home on the night of Jennavieve's death. That, plus the fact that Jennavieve was a wealthy heiress, is enough to convince Rupert that Ben is guilty - and he advises the District Attorney to get an indictment even before he has any CCTV evidence.

(Note: Don't these mystery writers watch television? EVERYONE who's watched lawyer/cop shows knows eyewitness testimony is unreliable. This plot point strikes a false note. 😏)

The prosecutor, who's angling for a judgeship - and being pressured by Jennavieve's influential sister - gets Ben indicted, and the trial starts shortly afterward.

Ben convinces his former law partner Boady Sanden - now a law professor - to take his case. Boady is an excellent defense attorney, so game on. Out of necessity, Ben grants temporary custody of his eight-year-old daughter, Emma, to Boady and his wife - who do their best for the little girl.

The rub in all this is that Boady Sanden is also a close friend of Detective Max Rupert, who's angry at Boady's 'betrayal.' Rupert gets even more furious during the trial, when Boady suggests that the Rupert did a poor job investigating Jennavieve's murder because he'd acquired new evidence about his wife's hit-and-run death four years ago. Boady insinuates that Rupert was looking into his wife's case (which is against police department regulations) instead of looking for Jennavieve's 'real killer.' There's some truth to this allegation, since Rupert is consumed with finding the driver that hit his wife.



In any case, the trial proceeds, and that's all I can say.....except that there are several twists after this, some of which aren't credible (to me). Still, this is an interesting mystery, suitable for whiling away an afternoon. 

Rating: 3 stars