Review: Proof
I had almost given up on a new Jilly Truitt novel from Beverley McLachlin. Book two, Denial, was published in 2021 which seems like such a long time to wait between novels! Cue my excitement when, earlier this year, I learned book three, Proof, would be published. I think it’s now my favourite of all three books!
Here’s the book’s description:
Jilly Truitt has always put her job as a criminal defense lawyer first, but becoming a new mother has changed her priorities. For the first time in her career, she’s taking some long-overdue time away from her firm and the day-to-day grind of cases, enjoying the quiet delights of motherhood.
Then the daughter of celebrity pop star Trist Jones goes missing and his ex-wife, Katie, is charged with kidnapping. Everyone from the police to the media believe Katie is guilty—her reputation was ripped to shreds in the tabloids during their divorce and subsequent custody battle. Call it mother’s intuition, but Jilly has her doubts. Katie’s whole life was about being a mother, and she and Trist were very public about their problems conceiving. After everything she went through to have a child, Katie claims that she would never do anything to hurt her daughter, and she begs Jilly to take her case.
Jilly agrees, but Katie’s prospects don’t look good. Police have found a witness who says he saw Katie with Tess the afternoon she disappeared, and they are close to giving up the search. The best chance Jilly has of clearing Katie’s name is to find the missing girl. But as the weeks go by, the police begin to suspect that Tess might be dead. With the threat of a murder charge hanging over Katie’s head, Jilly must find the real kidnapper and save Tess before it’s too late.
What I enjoy about this series is that it’s about a female lawyer and one who isn’t working in some “glamorous” role that I feel like we see far too often in media. No, Jilly is a criminal defense lawyer, meaning she’s in court and not always defending honourable individuals. Sometimes they’re guilty. And it’s a hard slog to gather the evidence to go to court. This might sound like it could make for a boring read but McLachlin makes it work. Which, you know, makes some sense. She knows the law inside and out, given she’s a former Chief Justice of Canada, but she’s also seen a lot and understands the human element of it.
I’ve actually done something I don’t usually do - I’ve edited the book’s description. Just one line but I think it’s an important removal because I had read it and the whole time I was wondering why that crucial piece of evidence wasn’t being revealed. If you want to find out what that line is, go ahead and check Goodreads. If you read the series, please let me know if you agree!
I don’t read a lot of thrillers anymore and this book was just the perfect blend of mystery and thriller. While there’s clearly a mystery to be solved here, there’s so much more tension and danger involved, which, to me, tips it into thriller territory. Part of that is because Tess is still missing while Jilly is preparing for trial. Will she ever be found? Will anyone be harmed? What’s the real story? And given what’s happened to Jilly in the past, I didn’t know for sure that everyone was going to make it out of this novel alive.
Proof was a great third installment in an interesting and captivating series. Beverley McLachlin’s writing has gotten stronger as the series progresses. I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s next for Jilly Truitt.
*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*