Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Trial of Dr. Kate by Michael E. Glasscock III

I don't normally take notice of authors, so imagine my surprise when I realised that The Trial of Dr. Kate is by the same author of Little Joe (link leads to my review)! To be honest, I only noticed it because the words "Little Joe" and "Joe Stout" were used. Apart from that, the two books couldn't be more different.

The Trial of Dr. Kate, like its name says, is about a trial of a doctor under the suspicion of murdering her best friend. When her friend Shenandoah, a Coleman (considered to be poor white trash), now living in Memphis hears of the news, she heads back to her hometown to see how she can help her friend Kate. As she tries to help, she realises that not only is Kate hiding a problem, she might also be falling in love.

Personally, I think this book was much much better than Little Joe. The plot moves at a steady pace, moving towards the trial itself. Along the way, there are two subplots - Shenandoah's romance and the fact someone out to kill her. I was actually more focused on the trial, and the subplots didn't interest me very much (not to mention the mystery about her being almost killed several times had a rather non-climatic ending).

And since Shenandoah is a returnee to her small town, her experiences make this whole book come alive with detail. Especially because of her family background, there's more on how people were discriminated, and as she goes around trying to help Kate, the reader learns about how hard life is for the people there. I think that the fact that the book wasn't all roses helped me feel as though I was pulled into that period of American life.

If you like historical novels, I highly recommend this book!

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

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