A SCANDAL OF THE PARTICULAR

A shocking local murder case revives a down-on-his-luck lawyer’s unraveling career in criminal attorney Hamilton’s debut suspense thriller.

The author draws on his own life’s work as an attorney in this fast-paced debut chronicling the exploits of Canadian lawyer Hyman Kazan. Not a particularly likable nor well-adjusted protagonist, 50-something Kazan has seen better days. His legal career is sputtering, and he and his girlfriend, Briar, are on the rocks. Everything, especially the dreary Vancouver weather, seems to remind him of his shortcomings. The ideal distraction soon presents itself when Simon Westfall, a young drug-abusing migrant, is found dead outside a local clinic. Westfall’s death became immediately suspicious to a clinic nurse who noted that he didn’t have overdose levels of drugs in his system. With an undetermined cause of death, foul play is suspected, and investigators descend on the case. Kazan suspects trial judge Craig Smith, who’s bisexual, because not only was he the last person to see Westfall alive (after a druggy dalliance with him), but he’s also been secretly romancing Briar. A race against time ensues as Kazan feverishly builds his case against his prime suspect, and Smith rushes to conceal evidence and exonerate himself before he jeopardizes his political career. While Kazan’s struggle for meaning is ever present throughout the novel, it’s often punctuated with overwrought prose, as when describing Kazan’s avoidance of a mundane daily existence: “He would never let the easily swallowed opioid of routine dissolve his lost and fractured soul.” Nevertheless, there is also some assured storytelling here; Hamilton effectively weaves past and present together to fill out not only Westfall’s gritty personal history, but also Kazan’s booze-soaked despair, bad luck, and personal and professional demons. Peripheral characters are also well rendered, including Smith, the nefarious judge. As the puzzle pieces of the mystery fall into place, Kazan seems to find his footing as a rejuvenated litigator and a man. Then the author drops an unexpected but plausible ending—one that will likely undermine any previous assumptions about his misunderstood legal-eagle protagonist.

A patchy read but with a twist ending that will dazzle fans of the genre.