Book Review: Alibi
The Latest Legal Thriller by Australian Author Sydney Bauer
When nineteen-year-old Jessica Nagoshi is found strangled in the garden of her family estate, the shockwaves are felt across Boston. A student at prestigious Deane University, Jessica is also the daughter of John Nagoshi – the head of a multi-million dollar empire.
The police investigation leads to the arrest of Jessica’s secret boyfriend, James Matheson, one of the most promising law students at Deane. Convinced of Matheson’s innocence, David Cavanaugh takes the case and finds himself up against greed, corporate secrecy and ambition in his search for the truth.
Bauer has once again shown that she is a master storyteller, with a plot that contains so many twists and turns that the reader is kept guessing right up until the closing chapters. With a distraught Matheson suffering in prison, Cavanaugh only has a short time to establish a plausible case against some one else, and one likely suspect after another is offered up.
Could it be Jessica’s brother Peter – intent on establishing himself as the head of Nagoshi Inc.’s American division? Equally suspicious is Matheson’s arrogant friend H Edgar, who has concocted an elaborate scheme to make money from his friend’s plight.
Return of Characters from Gospel and Undertow
As in Bauer’s previous novels Gospel (Pan Macmillan, 2007) and Undertow (Pan Macmillan, 2006), Cavanaugh finds himself pitted against ambitious prosecutor and acting District Attorney Roger Katz. Katz makes an easy target for dislike, as he is intent on making an example of the privileged upper-class Matheson and use the high-profile case as a stepping stone in his career.
Cavanaugh’s good friend Joe Mannix is the investigator from the Boston Police Department, who shares not only Cavanaugh’s hatred for Katz, but also his belief in Matheson’s possible innocence.
Cavanaugh’s girlfriend Sarah also returns in Alibi. She befriends young student Sawyer Jones, a human rights activist who holds the key to evidence of Nagoshi Inc.’s treatment of their factory workers in China.
An Entertaining Courtroom Drama
While Bauer’s novels certainly engage the reader with a complicated plot and likeable characters, sometimes it feels as though larger plot points are glossed over in favour of keeping up the rapid pace. In particular the human rights issue in China felt a little under-developed, and the character and motivations of Cavanaugh’s friend H Edgar could have been a little more fully explored.
As it stands however, the novel remains an entertaining quick read. Bauer is on a par with other more famous authors in the crime fiction genre such as John Grisham and Scott Turow. With Alibi (Pan Macmillan, 2008), Bauer has proved to be an expert at drawing out suspense, weaving together several possible threads to a surprising conclusion.
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