Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
The three infant deaths in Manhattan in a week all share in common that an outsider found the abandoned corpse of an unwed mother. By the third death, the media leads a public frenzy seeking to lynch someone for the rash of infanticides. The police catch all three "monster moms". They turn out to be a fourteen year old African-American who thought she had a stomach ache, a sixteen year old Puerto Rican who claimed the child was caused by rape, and a white adult who seemed retarded. The obvious target of the New York County DA is sixteen year old Lourdes Bustamente, who appears to be the only one with premeditated causes. The case is assigned to Butch Karp to prosecute.
Meanwhile Butch's wife attorney Marlene Ciampi is thinking of retiring from her work of legally protecting battered women after a recent incident turned ugly. However, a case in Delaware to defend a woman accused of murdering her infant lures Marlene back into the courtroom.
TRUE JUSTICE is an intriguing look at similar cases from the perspectives of the DA's office and the defense attorney. The plot also provides readers with an insightful look at how a tense case can impact the personal lives of the players. The story line at first appears to simply manipulate the tale to allow Ciampi's subplot to occur rather than flow from events. Still, Robert K. Tanenbaum makes it work through his intelligent gaze at the junction of the legal, moral, and political systems abetted by the strong relationship between the lead couple. Legal thriller fans will thrill to the latest Ciampi-Karp tale.