Review: But Remember Their Names: A Cynthia Jakubec Mystery by Hillary Bell Locke

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (July 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590589149
• ISBN-13: 978-1590589144

Product Description

Six colonists were killed at the Battle of Lexington, but just before Thanksgiving the life-size diorama of that battle at the Pittsburgh Museum of American History has seven bodies.  Thomas Bradshaw, a prominent Pittsburgh connoisseur, has been murdered, and Cynthia Jakubec will be drawn into one of the sideshows surrounding the investigation.  Jakubec is a working-class kid who's about to jump from Main Street to Wall Street (and marry a budding novelist) on the strength of her Harvard Law School degree when the Great Recession in the fall of 2008 puts her dream on hold.  She finds herself temporarily (she hopes) working as a legal intern at a Pittsburgh firm that does "street law" instead of "suite law" -- including representation of a Bradshaw's daughter, who may be a material witness (or worse).  The trail will lead from a black church in Pittsburgh's ghetto to the very luxury building in mid-town Manhattan where Jakubec dreams of working, with a broken nose and a broken heart along the way.  Before her Wall Street dream is again within her grasp, Jakubec will come to appreciate Robert F. Kennedy's memorable advice:  "Forgive your enemies -- but remember their names."

About the Author

 

Hillary Bell Locke graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, worked for a prominent New York law firm, and now practices law in a city far from New York--but not under that name.

My Review

I really enjoyed this legal thriller from Hillary Bell Locke. I love the title which was taken from a quote by Robert F. Kennedy:  "Forgive your enemies, but remember their names." The main character, Cynthia Jakubek, is a new graduate from Harvard Law School.  Being a high achiever from a working class family in Pittsburgh she is thrilled to be offered a position with a prestigious Wall Street law firm however due to the recession her actual hire date is not immediate.  She takes an unpaid interim position with Pittsburgh legal crusader Luis Mendoza.  She takes on the case of young Caitlin Bradshaw whose father has been murdered and whose body is found in a diorama of the 1775 Battle of Lexington in the city's museum.  There are many twists and turns in the fast paced read.  I never did figure out who the murderer was until it was revealed at the end by the author.  There is an interconnected storyline involving Cynthia's fiance Paul.  I don't want to give anything away but right from the start I felt that Cynthia was too good for Paul.  I enjoyed the strength of character that Cynthia (Cindy) displayed throughout the novel. 

I had never thought of this before:  "You go to law school to learn law - not justice".  So true.

I highly recommend this crime thriller from new author Hillary Bell Locke. Pick it up in July.