A Deadly Judgement: A Murder, She Wrote Mystery by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain

               My favorite film of all time is 12Angry Men.  Yet, for some reason, I didn’t think of it once as I read A Deadly Judgement.  That might have been because this book was about the selection of a jury and the following trial.  In 12 Angry Men it’s all about the jury room.  That is a big difference.

                Best-selling mystery author Jessica Fletcher isn’t interested in writing a courtroom mystery, no matter how badly her publisher wants her to write one. 

Then she receives a phone call.

                Jessica’s old friend, defense attorney Malcolm McLoon wants Jessica to come to Boston to help with the jury selection of a high-profile case.  Not being a lawyer herself, Jessica isn’t exactly sure how she can help.  Still, she agrees to do what she can.  She does, however, leave out the part about researching a book.  Something she will do just in case she changes her mind about writing a courtroom mystery.

                Very quickly, Jessica finds she has been invited on the team under false pretenses.  Malcolm asked for Jessica’s help so he can use her celebrity as a way to get featured on Court TV.  The cameras are difficult for Jessica to get used to, but she does it for the sake of the case.

                Jessica finds the jury selection to be a very strange process.  She thought juries were made up of fair-minded individuals.  Instead she finds both sides are trying to stack the jury in their favor.  This would be enough of a reason for Jessica to leave, but she believes the defendant, Billy Brannigan, is innocent, and decides to stay.

                As the trial begins, things seem to be going well.  Then the star witness is found dead.  After that, jury members are killed, and Jessica finds her own life to be in danger.  Still, Jessica does not stop working on the case.  She has to find out who is trying to make sure Billy is found guilty of killing his brother and why.

                I must say, it is unnerving how deeply the jury selection teams looked into the lives of potential jury members.  It reminded me of the film Runaway Jury, where secrets of the jury members were found out and used against them.  Thankfully, in this book, Jessica was around to help keep the others honest.  I hope having someone honest around is what happens in real life.