Stemming the Tide by Rebecca K Jones is the second book in a series featuring prosecutor Mackenzie Wilson. It isn’t vital to have read the first book but it will add to your enjoyment and understanding.
Mackenzie (Mack) is recovering from a severe beating by the defendant in a previous case. When she returns to work she is moved from her job in Sex Crimes to a PR desk job in the top office. She’s not happy and manages to get an agreement to second chair a case with her friend Jess.
Shortly after starting the new role, the body of a young woman is found with Mack’s business card in her pocket. Due to a variety of circumstances, Mack is suddenly the chief suspect in the murder and is suspended from her job.
So much is happening to Mack that she struggles to stay focused and her already fragile mind and body are showing the strain. As is her relationship with Anna.
Mack’s relationship with her girlfriend Dr Anna Lapin is back on but not the strongest. Jess and other friends come through to help Mack keep her life together, but can they find the real killer?
Writing and Story
Mack is a great character with flaws and issues and a lack of success in her relationships. She is self-aware and three-dimensional and it is satisfying to follow her
understanding that she needs to get a grip and help herself. But all the while she is struggling with the knowledge that her world isn’t as safe as she thought it was. This is partly the repercussions from the previous case and the physical and emotional after effects.
The story is well plotted and moves at a good pace with several fast sections and then the requisite slower parts to allow the reader to catch her breath. There is enough moral ambiguity that the narrative feels “real”.
Jess and Dave believe in Mack’s innocence and support her while Anna is less visible and certainly less helpful.
Pros
Jones obviously knows the law and is well versed in office politics and why people do the things they do to climb the ladder. The character of Mack is complex and credible and you find yourself rooting for her, even when her decisions aren’t the wisest. There is a lot going on in the story but the reader has to figure things out. You are expected to keep up.
Cons
Anna is possibly the least developed character and although her role is less than I’d like, it is important to the story that she is unavailable. There are a few stumbles where I wondered why Mack would take certain risks but it doesn’t diminish overall from the story.
The Conclusion
An excellent legal thriller by a strong writer who has developed a main character who we can root for.
The book will be enjoyed by readers who like strong characters, complex plotting, a few angst filled moments and a satisfying ending.
Excerpt from Stemming the Tide by Rebecca K Jones
The first day of Mack’s new job went smoothly. The slight hangover when she woke up was easily overcome by a long, hot shower and a stop at Starbucks for egg bites and a skinny vanilla latte. Mack arrived at her office, now in the executive suite, right next door to the district attorney’s chief assistant Michael Brown and only three doors down from the big man, Peter Campbell, himself. The Facilities team had relocated the contents of her old office—the stuff in the desk drawers, the Ruth Bader Ginsburg bobblehead, and everything in between. Nine file boxes were neatly stacked next to her new bookshelf. She slipped the lid off the top box, found that it contained the contents of her “just in case” drawer, and cringed. Mack would have preferred doing the packing on her own. She wasn’t thrilled that men had been responsible for moving her stash of tampons and extra deodorant, especially men she didn’t know, but it was too late now.
She took in the view of downtown Tucson from her new window. The city was beautiful, even in the half-light of an early October morning. Her old office had looked out over an alley where people often camped. This didn’t seem like as much of an upgrade as it should have—all Mack wanted was to be back in her Sex Crimes office, trying not to get caught staring at the occupants of the encampment.
Mack made it through unpacking three boxes before the executive suite started filling with attorneys and staff members, all popping in to welcome her. She’d been fortunate throughout her career to avoid much contact with the administration, so it wasn’t that people were renewing previous relationships. She wondered just how much was curiosity based on the circumstances of her transfer. Finally, the influx of people overwhelmed her, and she let the remaining six boxes sit, unopened, where Facilities had left them.
She met with Campbell at nine, which she suspected was early for the elected official, and heard all about his grand plans for Mack’s new position. He was up for reelection in two years, and he envisioned his community liaison acting as a free one-woman publicity campaign. Mack would hold the job for one year, as a “reward” for her hard work in the Andersen trial, and then some other deserving attorney would rotate in.
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Series: Mackenzie Wilson
Steadying the Ark
Stemming the Tide
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9781642474886
Publisher: Bella Books
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