A Very Simple Crime

A Very Simple Crime

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3.55 of 5 stars 3.55  ·  rating details  ·  296 ratings  ·  89 reviews
A twisting debut novel of murder and dark family secrets from a riveting new voice in crime fiction.

A murdered woman. A grieving husband. And their son-a mentally handicapped adult with a history of violent outbursts. A very simple case. Or is it?

Leo Hewitt, an Assistant DA once blamed for setting free a notorious child-killer, is eager to redeem himself with this intim...more
Paperback, 264 pages
Published November 2nd 2010 by Berkley Trade (first published January 1st 2010)
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Dan Schwent
A wealthy woman is killed and all signs point to her mentally disturbed son. Disgraced attourney Leo Hewitt uncovers new evidence pointing to the woman's unhappy husband. Can Leo help the DA's office put him away?

I won this book in a Firstreads giveaway and didn't realize it was a legal thriller. Yawn city, right? Well, it turned out to be a lot better than the dreary courtroom drama I was expecting.

Jerkins uses shifting viewpoints to his advantage. Adam Lee, the suspect, has his part of the sto...more
Chris Wolak
Enjoyed this book, and enjoy it more as it continues to play around in my mind. I recommend it to readers who like their mystery/thrillers to have a psychological edge and at little legal action. The writing is deceptively simple. Take my advice and pay attention to the details as you're reading. If the beginning is a little slow or hard to get into, stick with it. It's one of those thrillers that starts with some short chapters that leave you wondering what the heck is going on, but you quickly...more
Jamie
An interesting yet crude book. The book focuses primarily on a man named Adam Lee. He married a woman who has serious psychological issues. They have a son with mental issues who spends several years in an institution for violence. One weekend he takes his son home from the institution for a weekend at home. That same weekend he leaves on an affair getaway. When he returns, his wife is found dead. Adam turns to his brother, Monty, for his legal help as a lawyer. Monty then involves another attor...more
Julia
Grant Jerkins defies the structure of a typical mystery as well as conventional writing rules surrounding POV and tense. A less skilled author would have butchered this novel by defying these rules, but Jerkins does it nicely.

The novel is divided into three parts. The first is told in present tense and the first person POV, as seen through the eyes of the key suspect before the crime takes place. The second part of the book is told using the past tense and the third person omniscient POV; it foc...more
James Thane
Adam Lee, a businessman who has not entirely outgrown his troubled childhood, is on trial for the murder of his wife. He claims that he loved his wife and that he is innocent. He insists that, tragically, his wife was killed by their mentally ill son, Albert, who was home on a visit from the institution where he is normally committed. Adam is represented by his older brother, Monty, a handsome and successful lawyer, whom Adam has always worshipped.

Initially, the authorities had also concluded th...more
Joyce
A Very Simple Masterpiece

If you are looking to read a mystery with a blatant psychological edge, this is the new book for you. Nothing is really simple about A Very Simple Crime except the short, direct sentences and chapters. The prose is not ensconced in metaphors, it is direct and there are many zinger phrases, "can I acknowledge......that I was attracted to mental illness....Darkness is drawn to darkness." And dark is this novel, one feels drawn down to deeper levels alongside the characters...more
Paul Pessolano
Grant Jerkins lives in Atlanta and his book, "A Very Simple Crime", takes place in Atlanta. In fact the murder takes place in Peachtree Battle.

The story starts with two young boys, Monty and Adam Lee, who just lost their parents in an automobile accident. The book moves quickly to their lives as adults. Monty is now a big time lawyer and Adam has married into money.

Adam finds out that not only has he married into money but his wife, Rachel, is to say the least, psychotic. They have a child, Albe...more
Robyn
"A Very Simple Crime" is aptly titled, as this is a very simply plotted book. My quibbles with the novel are more structural and basic, rather than about the plot per se.

First, the characters are superficial. I never really felt like I knew them, despite learning important points of their backstories. The characters simply read like characters, rather than real people to care about.

Second, the last name of two primary characters is Lee (brothers Adam and Monty). The first name of a third major...more
Elizabeth A.
"If you are unlucky enough to have known the dark as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for darkness is a movable feast." - Adam Lee

There’s enough darkness following Adam Lee, the main character in Grant Jerkins’ debut novel A Very Simple Crime, to fuel a Thanksgiving sized feast. The book opens with Adam on trial for the murder of his wife, Rachel. As we learn through Adam’s narrated flashback to the events that brought him to this point in his life,...more
Neil Mudde
What a great read! did not know what to expect Grant Jenkin's first novel looking forward to reading more of his writing. He puts many established mystery writers to shame.
The story starts off with a sad description of 2 brothers who are left after their parents are killed (Why is it that often parents or one parent died of some horrific accident before a mystery story starts?) Due to the circumstances of their placement they begin an interesting relationship, which comes up ever so often during...more
Rich Stoehr
Every crime tells a story - especially murder. The motivations, the events, the hidden desires...sometimes it really is simple, and sometimes it only seems that way.

A Very Simple Crime tells just such a story, one that seems all too familiar. A man trapped in a marriage and a life he doesn't want, looking for a way out. He goes away for a weekend with a lover and returns to find his wife dead, and his disabled son traumatized. It seems simple, at first.

What keeps Grant Jerkins' tale of murder mo...more
Gerald Kinro
Once a promising prosecuting attorney, Leo Hewitt has fallen from grace because his mishandling of a case that let a child killer free. He is relegated to prosecuting traffic cases. In a story of twists, a woman is found brutally murdered. Still more—her son is a mentally handicapped adult with a history of uncontrollable violent outbursts. Her grieving husband is the one finally accused.

This story keeps twisting and turning until the surprising conclusion. It is a good story that is well plott...more
Dianne Emley
A dark tale that's an entertaining, fast read. A character-driven mystery with a cast of really unique characters, most with hidden agendas. A couple of great plot twists. I didn't give it five stars because I found it difficult to root for any of the main characters. They were all either despicable or so quirky I found them off-putting. I'm a fan of quirky characters and have included many in my books, but I balance the bizarre by including characters we do care about, in spite of their flaws....more
Karen & Gerard
Wow! What a twist at the end in A Very Simple Crime by Grant Jenkins. This is about two brothers, Adam and Monty. One day Adam comes home after a weekend escape with someone not his wife to find his wife dead. The only other person home was their mentally impaired son who is known for violent outbursts. When Adam is charged with murder, Monty becomes his lawyer.

A Very Simple Crime goes very fast. I got into it quickly and found it hard to put down. I was only going to give it a 7 plus rating, b...more
Kristy
I guess I'm in the minority when I say I really didnt care for this book. I saw every twist and turn coming from a mile away and kept wanting more from it...and never got it. Anyone that reads thrillers or mystery type books should have no prob figuring this book out right from the begining. Again I was really wanting the author to suprise me and make me think. But I never got it. Its wasnt a bad book, it just didnt live up to my expectaions and the only thing that kept me wanting to read it, wa...more
Barbara Brien
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Gina
Goodreads Description- A twisting debut novel of murder and dark family secrets from a riveting new voice in crime fiction.

A murdered woman. A grieving husband. And their son-a mentally handicapped adult with a history of violent outbursts. A very simple case. Or is it?

Leo Hewitt, an Assistant DA once blamed for setting free a notorious child-killer, is eager to redeem himself with this intimate and grisly crime. As he digs below the surface he discovers more than he ever anticipated-includin...more
Ed Schneider
Grant Jerkins debut novel is a dark, twisted tale of sibling rivalry, family secrets, a mentally retarded adult son and, oh yes, murder. The author's seeming simple writing style is more complex than it appears, as is the murder of one brother's wife and the defense of the accused husband by his attorney/brother. As the story unreels, truths become questioned, observations become questionable, and secrets turn the tale on its tail. It's a wonderful, mesmerizing yarn by a writer with a strong, un...more
J. Ford
I have to say I really enjoyed this book. It's been a while since I've read a good legal thriller and this one didn't let me down. It was definitely a page-turner and I read it in a couple of hours.

The story is about two brothers - Adam and Monty Lee. Adam is married to a very crazy woman and Monty is a sleezebag attorney. The story takes us from the time when Adam and Monty are young and their parents die, all the way to adulthood where Adam is married and working for his father-in-law as an in...more
Ellie
A Very Simple Crime by Grant Jerkins was a well-paced, well-written detective story with a satisfying plot, interesting characters, and just enough twists to keep the reader's interest alert.
Adam and his brother Monty are close, in that terminally ambivalent way that brothers so often seem to be. Orphaned at an early age, Adam looks to Monty for protection and Monty plays the sophisticated elder brother role well. A successful criminal attorney, Monty loses himself in both the law and the pleasu...more
Kurt Reichenbaugh
Good neo-noir novel. The prose is tight and brisk with a plot that moves along without ever bogging down in style. I'm still out on the different POV's. It worked here, and I don't see a way that it would have been pulled off it had been done entirely in the 1st person. Also what's interesting is how the reader should (or not) empathize with unlikable brothers Adam and Monty. Fans of noir should enjoy this one.
John Kelley
A very quick read, and a very base writer. Can't authors with compelling stories get beyond themselves and trying to shock with gross perversions? Seems like he was just trying to write something that would wind up on film as the next "Presumed Innocent". You are left caring about none of the characters because they are all selfish, corrupt or deranged. There is better in life and I hope Jerkins finds it.
Heather
I will try to review as simple as possible. (My ode to the title)

Raunchy, frantic, predictable and a bit hard is how I would describe this book.

I would venture to guess that the author is a huge fan of Law and Order Special Victims Unit. It read just like the one episode I've ever watched of that show.

Sadly, I will not be awaiting the next book by Grant Jerkins.

Simplicity is not always a good thing.

Jeanne B.
This is a very troubling but intriguing read with mostly unpleasant characters, but with a story line that keeps you reading. You have to know what really happened and whether you are being tricked, as you suspect right away. Not a five star book but definitely a very convincing and engaging plot. The hero of the story is hard to find.
Rhonda
A quick read with a lot of twists. The author gives a little more background with each character, then a little more mystery ensues, then a little more background, etc. A man in an unhappy marriage comes home from a weekend tryst to find his wife murdered, assumedly by their retarded son. He counts on his brother to save the day.
Stephanie Saylor
Disturbing yet amazing. The book was a very simple read (har-har). I was able to finish it in one sitting. Definitely a page turner. I am not a person who re-reads book but I would read this one again over and over! This book was very well written and the character development was on point!
Jessica
I'm not huge on mystery novels because I always find them trite, but this one was pretty good. A quick read (I think I read it in 3 days), not so amazing characters but it was better than a James Patterson novel! I'd be interested in reading another book by this author.
Jenna
*I won this book* Thank you Goodreads's First-Reads!!!

A quick read with several twists and turns. Whenever I felt I knew what happened to Rachel, the author would reveal something new that changed everything. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to more from Grant Jerkins.
Chris
If Alfred Hitchcock were alive, he'd make this into his next movie. Just loved it. Loved the plot twists, the points of view switching and the sly tone. This was so much better than his second book. REad this in just three evening sessions.
Julie
3 1/2 A very wonderful first novel! A fast reading thriller with many twists and turns. Adam's wife is murdered while he is out of town with another woman. Is it his developmentally disabled son who murdered her? Things are not what they seem.
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A Very Simple Crime (ebook)
A Very Simple Crime
A Very Simple Crime (Kindle Edition)
A Very Simple Crime (Hardcover)
Itatte meikai na satsujin (Paperback)

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Grant Jerkins's first novel, A Very Simple Crime, has been optioned for film by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Kazan (At Close Range, Reversal of Fortune,) with Barbet Schroeder (Barfly, Single White Female) attached to direct. This will mark the first pairing of Schroeder and Kazan since their landmark, Oscar-winning film, Reversal of Fortune.

Grant lives with his wife and son in the Atlant...more
More about Grant Jerkins...
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