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Flat Lake in Winter
Chosen as recommended summer reading by The New York Times Book Review.
Deep in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains sits a mansion, its image reflected perfectly on the still water of Flat Lake. Inside that estate are the savagely murdered bodies of a wealthy elderly couple.
All evidence points to Jonathan - their mentally handicapped twenty-eight-year-old grandson - but Matt Fielder, his appointed defense lawyer, isn't convinced. While Fielder is pretty sure Jonathan committed the killings, Jonathan's childlike understanding of the world renders it nearly impossible for him to have done it out of greed or malice. Now Fielder must fight the prosecution's campaign for the death penalty, but as he scours Jonathan's past for anything that will help their case, he uncovers a cache of dark family secrets that turn the case in a shocking and unexpected new direction.
When his first novel, Felony Murder, was published, Publishers Weekly called Klempner "a writer to watch." Now, Klempner is better than ever - that rare novelist with both an insider's knowledge of the world he writes about, and a talent for intelligent, compelling storytelling.
Deep in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains sits a mansion, its image reflected perfectly on the still water of Flat Lake. Inside that estate are the savagely murdered bodies of a wealthy elderly couple.
All evidence points to Jonathan - their mentally handicapped twenty-eight-year-old grandson - but Matt Fielder, his appointed defense lawyer, isn't convinced. While Fielder is pretty sure Jonathan committed the killings, Jonathan's childlike understanding of the world renders it nearly impossible for him to have done it out of greed or malice. Now Fielder must fight the prosecution's campaign for the death penalty, but as he scours Jonathan's past for anything that will help their case, he uncovers a cache of dark family secrets that turn the case in a shocking and unexpected new direction.
When his first novel, Felony Murder, was published, Publishers Weekly called Klempner "a writer to watch." Now, Klempner is better than ever - that rare novelist with both an insider's knowledge of the world he writes about, and a talent for intelligent, compelling storytelling.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
186 people are currently reading
361 people want to read
About the author
Joseph T. Klempner
11 books23 followersHis full name is Joseph Teller Klempner, and he is also published as
Joseph Teller , at which web site further biographical information may be found.
Joseph T. Klempner is a former undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Drug Enforcement Agency) and later as a defense attorney in New York City.
Joseph Teller , at which web site further biographical information may be found.
Joseph T. Klempner is a former undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Drug Enforcement Agency) and later as a defense attorney in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
August 18, 2016
This is an excellent courtroom drama. Defense attorney Matt Fielder is appointed a case because he is the only one in this sleepy area who is qualified to handle a death penalty case. There doesn't seem to be any doubt who the killer is. However why would this gentle, childlike, innocent minded young man murder his grandparents in a massacre of bloodbath proportions, and it seems the death penalty is not appropriate. If you are tired of the formulaic courtroom/detective mysteries where an amateur sleuth gets involved in a case and within days seems to have access all areas, including interviewing witnesses without any authorisation and stumbling across clues that the police miss. Where they do not seem to have a job/family/friends to worry about and can take off at the drop of a hat using their own resources and launch a full and of course dangerous investigation. Where they team up with the retired cop/reporter/P.I. and all too often fall in love in a matter of 2 or 3 days. I've read lots of books like this and will probably read more. This book is a procedural drama but certainly not boring, we watch the progression of the case from both prosecution and defense. This reads more like a true crime it feels so accurate in its procedure and we also follow the main characters personal lives too. It's fresh, very well written with plenty of twists and turns.
April 16, 2016
Parts of this book read like a true crime novel, with lots of details about names and dates and police procedure. The characters were interesting and the case unfolded like an actual one would from the point of arrest then weaving through the court system. The only thing that keeps from giving this book more stars was the revelation that the sister Jennifer had voluntarily slept with her own mentally deficient brother "to help him out" and the defense attorney just accepted this and THEN he slept with her. The attitude towards the incest was just so off-putting and the flimsy excuse she gave for initiating the sexual contact with the brother really bothered me. And I kept waiting for the kid to not really be her brother's child, but that of course didn't happen.
In other words, the characters and the case would have been enough to give this novel a more Grisham-like feel but the incest and stuff just turned me off.
In other words, the characters and the case would have been enough to give this novel a more Grisham-like feel but the incest and stuff just turned me off.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2017
Everything was going along fine and then there was a big old YUCK and I just couldn't wrap my head around Jennifer's reasoning behind why the big old YUCK happened and the way it happened. And then the ending - I'm not buying it. That's not how it works.
April 8, 2018
PROTAGONIST: Matt Fielder, lawyer
SETTING: Adirondack region, New York
RATING: 3.5
WHY: Matt Fielder is a lawyer who lives in a remote cabin in the Adirondack Mountains in New York state. He struggles when he is appointed as the defense attorney for Jonathon Hamilton, a mentally challenged young man who appears to have brutally murdered his grandparents. Jonathon is very uncommunicative and focused solely on the here and now. He doesn’t appear to understand what has happened and whether he has done it or not. Matt puts together a small team to try to have the death penalty taken off the table. His best chance is a risky one, to prove that Jonathon committed the act while sleepwalking and had no idea of what he had done. Although the writing was good, there were some flaws. The author mixed present and past tense, which was awkward. There were several implausible elements in the narrative. But the characters were unique enough that Klempner managed to pull it off.
SETTING: Adirondack region, New York
RATING: 3.5
WHY: Matt Fielder is a lawyer who lives in a remote cabin in the Adirondack Mountains in New York state. He struggles when he is appointed as the defense attorney for Jonathon Hamilton, a mentally challenged young man who appears to have brutally murdered his grandparents. Jonathon is very uncommunicative and focused solely on the here and now. He doesn’t appear to understand what has happened and whether he has done it or not. Matt puts together a small team to try to have the death penalty taken off the table. His best chance is a risky one, to prove that Jonathon committed the act while sleepwalking and had no idea of what he had done. Although the writing was good, there were some flaws. The author mixed present and past tense, which was awkward. There were several implausible elements in the narrative. But the characters were unique enough that Klempner managed to pull it off.
August 4, 2016
This was an interesting book. It was written as though a third person was giving you confidential inside information on a murder case. Matt is a defense attorney, who is assigned to defend a mentally handicapped young man, Jonathon, who is accused of murdering his grandparents. The reader is given the inside view of how a defensive team works, including mistakes and oversights. Matt assumes that Jonathon is guilty and begins to make his case to prevent the death penalty. There are some late twists, that the reader may have speculated on earlier in the book. The end seemed somewhat rushed which is the reason for 4 stars.
June 3, 2019
An old favorite revisited. The characters are all well drawn. Jonathan Hamilton, who is mentally slow, is found at his home which is the scene of a horrendous and bloody crime - both his grandparents were slaughtered and he's the only one there to charge with murder. Matt Fielder has spent a year separating himself from the city, building a cabin in the Adirondacks and he's perfectly content in his Thoreau-like lifestyle. But he also attended Death School which qualifies him to defend death penalty cases and he's called to do so. Gil Cavanaugh, the politically ambitious District Attorney, and Arthur Summerhouse, the 64-year-old judge who is partially bald but has a mustache, "perhaps intended as a bit of distraction from the battle being waged on top" of his head, are hostile. They think have a slam dunk and want to bring this trial to a quick conclusion. To them, Fielder is the "Jew lawyer" from the city who's trying to throw a monkey wrench into the case and into the grandstanding DA's political career. So with a client unable to tell his side of the story and no other suspects, Fiedler's job to keep his client alive is as difficult as building his cabin, and one over which he has much less control.
One of the most compelling characters are the Adirondacks themselves whose small towns are "about as far north as you can go before you start speaking French to be understood." Fielder approaches the natural beauty of the country with a city slicker's conversion: he enjoys not only the heat, but watching the dancing flames of his wood stove; he finds satisfaction in cleanly splitting a piece of ash or skipping a stone across the lake and watching the ripples as they're swallowed by the "surface of the water gradually healed and grew still once again."
The writing about nature is right on target, but there are other small annoyances. Fielder's naive and implausible penchant for falling in love puts him in the same child-like category as his client. Verb tense sometimes changes in the same sentence, and the transition lines - "while this is happening, elsewhere this is happening " become annoying from overuse.
One of the most compelling characters are the Adirondacks themselves whose small towns are "about as far north as you can go before you start speaking French to be understood." Fielder approaches the natural beauty of the country with a city slicker's conversion: he enjoys not only the heat, but watching the dancing flames of his wood stove; he finds satisfaction in cleanly splitting a piece of ash or skipping a stone across the lake and watching the ripples as they're swallowed by the "surface of the water gradually healed and grew still once again."
The writing about nature is right on target, but there are other small annoyances. Fielder's naive and implausible penchant for falling in love puts him in the same child-like category as his client. Verb tense sometimes changes in the same sentence, and the transition lines - "while this is happening, elsewhere this is happening " become annoying from overuse.
May 11, 2020
Slightly unusual, this one . . . but still quietly entertaining. The style takes a little time to adjust to as it comes across initially more like some journalistic report or maybe a forensic examination of the way a legal defence has been put together than a novel. There are interesting character studies however and flashes of very subtle humour which I found really engaging.
The plot itself follows the preparations for a murder trial with the defendant looking more or less doomed to face the death penalty from the outset, but all is not as it seems. The style and the storyline both drew me in as the book progressed and I'd be happy to recommend this to anyone who prefers a gentle, unspectacular read with interesting characters and impeccable use of language, laced with witty interjections from the narrator. And there is a genuine twist which took me unawares at any rate.
I may well have a look at more of Joseph T Klempner's work.
The plot itself follows the preparations for a murder trial with the defendant looking more or less doomed to face the death penalty from the outset, but all is not as it seems. The style and the storyline both drew me in as the book progressed and I'd be happy to recommend this to anyone who prefers a gentle, unspectacular read with interesting characters and impeccable use of language, laced with witty interjections from the narrator. And there is a genuine twist which took me unawares at any rate.
I may well have a look at more of Joseph T Klempner's work.
December 16, 2018
Une vraie bonne lecture qui m'a tenue du début à la fin.
J'ai particulièrement aimé la première partie du roman et son style très documentariste. Déroutant au départ, je me suis prise au jeu de l'enquête dans ce monde tres particulier du système judiciaire américain. Et puis, j'ai trouvé que le milieu du roman etait soudainement devenu mou quand les histoires personnelles de notre avocat semblent prendre le pas sur l'enquête. Mais non, finalement tout fait sens ! Jusqu'au bout l'auteur se joue de nous... au point de me faire regretter que le roman soit déjà terminé...
Une lecture que je vous recommande !
J'ai particulièrement aimé la première partie du roman et son style très documentariste. Déroutant au départ, je me suis prise au jeu de l'enquête dans ce monde tres particulier du système judiciaire américain. Et puis, j'ai trouvé que le milieu du roman etait soudainement devenu mou quand les histoires personnelles de notre avocat semblent prendre le pas sur l'enquête. Mais non, finalement tout fait sens ! Jusqu'au bout l'auteur se joue de nous... au point de me faire regretter que le roman soit déjà terminé...
Une lecture que je vous recommande !
January 17, 2021
Good mystery and overall I liked it. The author's narrative in the early chapters was more annoying to me rather than informative. Numerous sentences begin with phrases such as "Later no one could say when....." "Fielder would realize later that the first meeting with his client" etc. One or two such hooks are fine to keep the readers attention but there were so many that I reached the point of realizing that not all were significant clues to the mystery. But I still liked the book and do recommend as a good mystery.
April 4, 2020
I read somewhere that Klempner is "just like Grisham", but I don't agree: I read a couple of G. novels, but I never care for his characters. Klempner (or Teller, his alias) makes me care for characters and this is one of the motives I like reading his books. This is also the case here, although I found this one a bit over descriptive and the twist at the end was kind of obvious (the motives of the modus operandi of the killer also a bit improbable). Still, I enjoyed reading it.
April 26, 2018
Loved it!!!
This was really great story, strong characters, wonderful writing. One thing I really about it is that it was so informational. I learned about the law, the grand jury , different penalties etc. I have been reading courtroom dramas for ages but this book was like a teaching aid. The scenes in winter were so discriptive I wanted to wear a scarf and mittens.
This was really great story, strong characters, wonderful writing. One thing I really about it is that it was so informational. I learned about the law, the grand jury , different penalties etc. I have been reading courtroom dramas for ages but this book was like a teaching aid. The scenes in winter were so discriptive I wanted to wear a scarf and mittens.
May 28, 2018
What a read!
Just finished the book and am sorry it is done. Wonderfully developed characters, great twists and turns and very enjoyable writing. Found myself reading passages aloud to my husband so he could share in my enjoyment. Highly recommended.
Just finished the book and am sorry it is done. Wonderfully developed characters, great twists and turns and very enjoyable writing. Found myself reading passages aloud to my husband so he could share in my enjoyment. Highly recommended.
March 20, 2020
Great legal fiction
Fielder is terrific as a character, and I hope there will be more books about him. A lot of legalese but it fit the story. Well told throughout, loved the ending. Overall good read.
Fielder is terrific as a character, and I hope there will be more books about him. A lot of legalese but it fit the story. Well told throughout, loved the ending. Overall good read.
April 11, 2020
Flat Lake in Winter
I liked it a lot! I beg to disagree with those reviewers who say it’s a police procedural or a courtroom drama: it is neither. It’s an excellent legal procedural in which, apart from the plot and the great descriptions of landscape, you can learn a lot about law.
I liked it a lot! I beg to disagree with those reviewers who say it’s a police procedural or a courtroom drama: it is neither. It’s an excellent legal procedural in which, apart from the plot and the great descriptions of landscape, you can learn a lot about law.
May 29, 2021
Starts slow, awkward and amateurish to the point of abandonment. However the tale becomes progressively thrilling and engrossing. Got me on the back foot when things started developing beyong wildest expectations. Reads like a real life crime story. The detail is that good. More please!
May 7, 2017
My first book by this author, and now I need to find the rest of his books and read them. I enjoy legal thrillers, but this one stepped away from the usual narrative and was very compelling reading.
August 22, 2017
A bit disturbing at times, but another good beach read.
October 19, 2017
I loved this book! I could not put this down and finished it in one night. Highly recommend.
November 21, 2017
Started off strong but fizzled out for some reason.
April 30, 2018
I liked the book but there was a little too much delving into details. I liked the main character, Matthew Fielder. There is a big twist at the end. I would read another book by Klempner.
May 9, 2018
Good story and strong characters. Death penalty case. Only thing kept it from 5 stars was the detail around legal issues.
July 6, 2018
Well done
Hate reviews, no one feels like I do about one's rating of a book, see for themselves. I found the need to get to the end and say I knew it. Held me in it's grips.,l
Hate reviews, no one feels like I do about one's rating of a book, see for themselves. I found the need to get to the end and say I knew it. Held me in it's grips.,l
January 24, 2019
It took me awhile to get into this book. I think I tried several times before I actually got to reading it. It was good. I anticipated parts of it.... I would rather the “twist” not be as obvious.
June 19, 2019
Very insightful book, gave an in depth look at how court cases are won and lost. Good surprised ending!
August 12, 2019
Slow amble around a park rather than a rip snorting novel. I guessed the ending early on, but overall,
I enjoyed the book.
I enjoyed the book.
September 22, 2019
This read like it was non-fiction. I enjoyed reading about the inner workings of the legal profession. He made a lot of accurate points. I was so surprised about the ending!
October 26, 2019
Couldn't stop reading this story . . . death row murder case, lawyer with a great mind and even better instincts and values, and possibly a love interest.
March 26, 2020
A good story but a little too obvious
April 14, 2020
Excellent
I couldn’t put this down. An amazing twist at the end that I never saw coming. The best legal fiction I’ve ever read!
I couldn’t put this down. An amazing twist at the end that I never saw coming. The best legal fiction I’ve ever read!
September 16, 2020
Meh
It seems like a documentary or a script from an old film noir but there were too many tangent side stories. Good story, irritating writing style.
It seems like a documentary or a script from an old film noir but there were too many tangent side stories. Good story, irritating writing style.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews