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Butch Karp #5
Material Witness
A novel of murder, political coverup and corruption, by the author of Reversible Error and No Lesser Plea. When New York's top celebrity athlete is shot to death, Assistant D.A. Butch Karp and his wife/partner, Marlene Ciampi, take on an accumulation of mobsters, hitmen, big city guns and big shots.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1993
180 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
Robert K. Tanenbaum
76 books280 followersRobert K. Tanenbaum is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five legal thrillers and has an accomplished legal career of his own. Before his first book was published, Tanenbaum had already been the Bureau Chief of the Criminal Courts, had run the Homicide Bureau, and had been in charge of the training program for the legal staff for the New York County District Attorney’s Office. He also served as Deputy Chief Counsel to the Congressional Committee investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. In his professional career, Tanenbaum has never lost a felony case. His courtroom experiences bring his books to life, especially in his bestselling series featuring prosecutor Roger “Butch” Karp and his wife, Marlene Ciampi.
Tanenbaum was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the University of California at Berkeley on a basketball scholarship, and remained at Cal, where he earned his law degree from the prestigious Boalt Hall School of Law. After graduating from Berkeley Law, Tanenbaum moved back to New York to work as an assistant district attorney under the legendary New York County DA Frank Hogan. Tanenbaum then served as Deputy Chief Counsel in charge of the Congressional investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The blockbuster novel Corruption of Blood (1994), is a fictionalized account of his experience in Washington, D.C.
Tanenbaum returned to the West Coast and began to serve in public office. He was elected to the Beverly Hills City Council in 1986 and twice served as the mayor of Beverly Hills. It was during this time that Tanenbaum began his career as a novelist, drawing from the many fascinating stories of his time as a New York ADA. His successful debut novel, No Lesser Plea (1987), introduces Butch Karp, an assistant district attorney who is battling for justice, and Marlene Ciampi, his associate and love interest. Tanenbaum’s subsequent twenty-two novels portrayed Karp and his crime fighting family and eclectic colleagues facing off against drug lords, corrupt politicians, international assassins, the mafia, and hard-core violent felons.
He has had published eight recent novels as part of the series, as well as two nonfiction titles: The Piano Teacher (1987), exploring his investigation and prosecution of a recidivist psychosexual killer, and Badge of the Assassin (1979), about his prosecution of cop killers, which was made into a movie starring James Woods as Tanenbaum.
Tanenbaum and his wife of forty-three years have three children. He currently resides in California where he has taught Advanced Criminal Procedure at the Boalt Hall School of Law and maintains a private law practice.
Tanenbaum was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the University of California at Berkeley on a basketball scholarship, and remained at Cal, where he earned his law degree from the prestigious Boalt Hall School of Law. After graduating from Berkeley Law, Tanenbaum moved back to New York to work as an assistant district attorney under the legendary New York County DA Frank Hogan. Tanenbaum then served as Deputy Chief Counsel in charge of the Congressional investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The blockbuster novel Corruption of Blood (1994), is a fictionalized account of his experience in Washington, D.C.
Tanenbaum returned to the West Coast and began to serve in public office. He was elected to the Beverly Hills City Council in 1986 and twice served as the mayor of Beverly Hills. It was during this time that Tanenbaum began his career as a novelist, drawing from the many fascinating stories of his time as a New York ADA. His successful debut novel, No Lesser Plea (1987), introduces Butch Karp, an assistant district attorney who is battling for justice, and Marlene Ciampi, his associate and love interest. Tanenbaum’s subsequent twenty-two novels portrayed Karp and his crime fighting family and eclectic colleagues facing off against drug lords, corrupt politicians, international assassins, the mafia, and hard-core violent felons.
He has had published eight recent novels as part of the series, as well as two nonfiction titles: The Piano Teacher (1987), exploring his investigation and prosecution of a recidivist psychosexual killer, and Badge of the Assassin (1979), about his prosecution of cop killers, which was made into a movie starring James Woods as Tanenbaum.
Tanenbaum and his wife of forty-three years have three children. He currently resides in California where he has taught Advanced Criminal Procedure at the Boalt Hall School of Law and maintains a private law practice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
January 14, 2024
Robert Tanenbaum's early works are much better than his later ones in my opinion. 8 of 10 stars
July 19, 2012
This is the fifth book in the Bruce Karp-Marlene Ciampi series. I have read almost all of them and I find the series excellent. Sometimes also a bit improbable but the action is so fast-paced you do not notice until later.`
This novel starts with a noted athlete killed in his car, which contained a huge drug stash. There is lots of political corruption and false trails for Bruce and Marlene to sort throught. I'll go no further on the plot so I won't spoil the story for you. Trust me, Bruce and Marlene are always worth reading.
Instead, I'll do an aside--the kind of small but neat scene Tannebaum throws in and which make the novels more enjoyable to me.
Marlene, in her apartment, has just broken away from the hood holding her. She runs not to the door but the the open elevator shaft (their apartment is a loft in an old warehouse). She has a labor pain. "She panted as tuaght though hanging over a fifty foot drop was not an approved Lamaze position...." page 370. Fortunately, the next apartment down has their neighbors Stu and Larry. and Larry is a nurse. Stuart his sculptor friend asks what's happening. Larry replies, "Well, ....first the little boy bee goes to the flower...."
"She's having a baby ? Here?!" She is and she does with first the hoods and then the police banging on the barred door. When Bruce Karp calls to ask Stu or Larry if they know where Marlene is, he is told "You have a daughter. Stu and Larry's place--we deliver" (page 385). LOL.
It is just this type of off-beat humor and characterization which makes me like the series so well. Similar lively and humourous scenes are sprinked through Tannebaum's books along with the serious crime and court dramatic scenes. The mixture makes the series, imho, stand out from other mystery series.
If read in order, you will see the characters grow; however, each story is complete in itself and I personally started with a later book in the series and went back to pick up the earlier ones.
A long running crime/courtroome series with fast moving plots and good characteriation. Dashes of humor and a good feel for the legal pitfalls our system has makes this series a good mix. Highly recommended to fans of mysteries, thrillers and courtroom dramas.
Read first before I joined Goodreads, so dates unknown.
This novel starts with a noted athlete killed in his car, which contained a huge drug stash. There is lots of political corruption and false trails for Bruce and Marlene to sort throught. I'll go no further on the plot so I won't spoil the story for you. Trust me, Bruce and Marlene are always worth reading.
Instead, I'll do an aside--the kind of small but neat scene Tannebaum throws in and which make the novels more enjoyable to me.
Marlene, in her apartment, has just broken away from the hood holding her. She runs not to the door but the the open elevator shaft (their apartment is a loft in an old warehouse). She has a labor pain. "She panted as tuaght though hanging over a fifty foot drop was not an approved Lamaze position...." page 370. Fortunately, the next apartment down has their neighbors Stu and Larry. and Larry is a nurse. Stuart his sculptor friend asks what's happening. Larry replies, "Well, ....first the little boy bee goes to the flower...."
"She's having a baby ? Here?!" She is and she does with first the hoods and then the police banging on the barred door. When Bruce Karp calls to ask Stu or Larry if they know where Marlene is, he is told "You have a daughter. Stu and Larry's place--we deliver" (page 385). LOL.
It is just this type of off-beat humor and characterization which makes me like the series so well. Similar lively and humourous scenes are sprinked through Tannebaum's books along with the serious crime and court dramatic scenes. The mixture makes the series, imho, stand out from other mystery series.
If read in order, you will see the characters grow; however, each story is complete in itself and I personally started with a later book in the series and went back to pick up the earlier ones.
A long running crime/courtroome series with fast moving plots and good characteriation. Dashes of humor and a good feel for the legal pitfalls our system has makes this series a good mix. Highly recommended to fans of mysteries, thrillers and courtroom dramas.
Read first before I joined Goodreads, so dates unknown.
October 10, 2014
Former New York Assistant District Attorney Robert K. Tannenbaum's descriptions of the streets of New York are fantastic. He knows the hallowed or not so hallowed halls of justice, the subways, Manhattan, as well as the outer borough neighborhoods. Through main characters ADA Butch Karp and his lawyer wife, Marlene Campi, the author makes caustic observations about the New York judicial and the criminal justice systems.
The author paints a unique married couple in Butch and Marlene. They take risks others would not; make choices that don't make a whole lot of sense to sensible people...and the reader is asked to accept that. After all, it's Butch and Marlene. That's who they are. Some of the things they do are hard to swallow. If you can accept that about Butch and Marlene, then you're in for a great fictional ride.
A top MBA celebrity player is found murdered in his white Caddy with a glove compartment full of cocaine. Butch, who was a star basketball player in college (sidelined into law due to an injury) joins an MBA team undercover and goes after the killer. Meanwhile, back at their loft in lower Manhattan, a very pregnant Marlene is about to take incredible risks with the help of her washed up, drunken cop friend as she charges head long into the case. Working as a team (and sometimes fighting like cats and dogs) they discover a conspiracy with mobsters, political big wigs, and movers and shakers who have killed and are willing to kill again to maintain the status quo which amounts to a gravy train.
The author paints a unique married couple in Butch and Marlene. They take risks others would not; make choices that don't make a whole lot of sense to sensible people...and the reader is asked to accept that. After all, it's Butch and Marlene. That's who they are. Some of the things they do are hard to swallow. If you can accept that about Butch and Marlene, then you're in for a great fictional ride.
A top MBA celebrity player is found murdered in his white Caddy with a glove compartment full of cocaine. Butch, who was a star basketball player in college (sidelined into law due to an injury) joins an MBA team undercover and goes after the killer. Meanwhile, back at their loft in lower Manhattan, a very pregnant Marlene is about to take incredible risks with the help of her washed up, drunken cop friend as she charges head long into the case. Working as a team (and sometimes fighting like cats and dogs) they discover a conspiracy with mobsters, political big wigs, and movers and shakers who have killed and are willing to kill again to maintain the status quo which amounts to a gravy train.
December 1, 2017
This has become one of my favorite series. Set in the 70s in NYC, the characters are almost caricatures of the City stereotypes, yet still manage to be not only believable but likable....or hate-able in the case of the criminals. The story lines are full of action and entertaining, with humorous lines and/or paragraphs that often catch you unaware and make you laugh out loud. This story had basketball as the focus of its main plot. This is a game I cannot stand (it's almost as bad as football in my opinion), and yet it did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book and even served its purpose in filling out Butch's character and personality even more. There is never a dull moment in any of these books!
April 5, 2011
This is a book that I had read before, but not recorded. The Butch Karp-Marlene Ciampi series is one of my favorites. In this one, Butch gets to play pro basketball in an effort to solve a murder, he quits his job, and Marlene is expecting their first child. It is also where they get to know Harry Bello, the burnt out, drunk detective. Butch and Marlene have some interesting neighbors on the floor below their factory loft-apartment, Stu the sculptor, and Larry the nurse, who play an important role. Lots of thrills, chills and lowlife.
March 28, 2012
Continuing my very pleasant romp through the Butch Karp - Marlene Ciampi series, ghosted by Michael Gruber. This is #5. Reliably exciting, fast-moving, suspenseful thriller.
July 11, 2023
star basketball player is found murdered in his car. 2 witnesses - truck driver & his paramore
Basketball player's sister is an addict, there's several thousands of dollars worth of cocaine in the car.
Who wanted him killed?
Butch goes undercover as a player on the team (12th man) - the coach is a former college opponent.
This book investigates the not-so-disparate worlds of drug territories & kingpins, real estate ventures w/city planner assistance, mafia involvement including sports betting.
Basketball player's sister is an addict, there's several thousands of dollars worth of cocaine in the car.
Who wanted him killed?
Butch goes undercover as a player on the team (12th man) - the coach is a former college opponent.
This book investigates the not-so-disparate worlds of drug territories & kingpins, real estate ventures w/city planner assistance, mafia involvement including sports betting.
September 9, 2022
I like the first few of these Karp novels when younger and had a bunch in the closet. Figured let me read before donating. Kept interest. A few too many "coincedents." I do think it showed a little of its age being written almost 30 years ago and I think supposed to be set in the 70s, although not sure of that. Will probably try more before donating them.
March 20, 2025
Will they go private
I haven't read ahead for what is next for Karp and Ciampi. While I was reading this book in the series, I couldn't get out of my head they should go private. Private law practice and PI firm.
I haven't read ahead for what is next for Karp and Ciampi. While I was reading this book in the series, I couldn't get out of my head they should go private. Private law practice and PI firm.
November 1, 2017
Another great one. I worked in the legal field and love this series.
September 9, 2018
No new surprises, except that maybe the male writer thinks that the pregnant female is really good at climbing ladders.
November 1, 2018
Enjoying this series. Good stories and well written
April 13, 2019
Pro athlete killed! Not just a pro-the pro on New York? Why and how is for the amazing characters of this series to find out. Enjoy
June 13, 2019
Mostly well done, though the central premise resembles the last one (and is equally overcomplicated). Too many casual corpses.
August 26, 2019
Like the team of Karp and Ciampi. Their styles conflict but this book keeps you guessing as to how they'll solve the crime.
November 26, 2019
Much of the story is unbelieveable. It was a good fast read.
March 13, 2021
Excellent story, plot and characters. Like Tanenbaum's other books, it jumps all over the place but somehow he ties it all together and makes sense of it all.
March 25, 2015
Perosnal Note: I think this is my fav so far for this series. I sure whish GR had a different rating system. Not quite a 4., but darn close
THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLY
This is the fifth book in the Bruce Karp-Marlene Ciampi series. I have read almost all of them and I find the series excellent. Sometimes also a bit improbable but the action is so fast-paced you do not notice until later.`
This novel starts with a noted athlete killed in his car, which contained a huge drug stash. There is lots of political corruption and false trails for Bruce and Marlene to sort throught. I'll go no further on the plot so I won't spoil the story for you. Trust me, Bruce and Marlene are always worth reading.
Instead, I'll do an aside--the kind of small but neat scene Tannebaum throws in and which make the novels more enjoyable to me.
Marlene, in her apartment, has just broken away from the hood holding her. She runs not to the door but the the open elevator shaft (their apartment is a loft in an old warehouse). She has a labor pain. "She panted as taught though hanging over a fifty foot drop was not an approved Lamaze position...." page 370. Fortunately, the next apartment down has their neighbors Stu and Larry. and Larry is a nurse. Stuart his sculptor friend asks what's happening. Larry replies, "Well, ....first the little boy bee goes to the flower...."
"She's having a baby ? Here?!" She is and she does with first the hoods and then the police banging on the barred door. When Bruce Karp calls to ask Stu or Larry if they know where Marlene is, he is told "You have a daughter. Stu and Larry's place--we deliver" (page 385). LOL.
It is just this type of off-beat humor and characterization which makes me like the series so well. Similar lively and humorous scenes are sprinkled through Tannebaum's books along with the serious crime and court dramatic scenes. The mixture makes the series, imho, stand out from other mystery series.
If read in order, you will see the characters grow; however, each story is complete in itself and I personally started with a later book in the series and went back to pick up the earlier ones.
A long running crime/courtrooms series with fast moving plots and good characterization. Dashes of humor and a good feel for the legal pitfalls our system has makes this series a good mix. Highly recommended to fans of mysteries, thrillers and courtroom dramas.
***************
Former New York Assistant District Attorney Robert K. Tannenbaum's descriptions of the streets of New York are fantastic. He knows the hallowed or not so hallowed halls of justice, the subways, Manhattan, as well as the outer borough neighborhoods. Through main characters ADA Butch Karp and his lawyer wife, Marlene Campi, the author makes caustic observations about the New York judicial and the criminal justice systems.
The author paints a unique married couple in Butch and Marlene. They take risks others would not; make choices that don't make a whole lot of sense to sensible people...and the reader is asked to accept that. After all, it's Butch and Marlene. That's who they are. Some of the things they do are hard to swallow. If you can accept that about Butch and Marlene, then you're in for a great fictional ride.
A top MBA celebrity player is found murdered in his white Caddy with a glove compartment full of cocaine. Butch, who was a star basketball player in college (sidelined into law due to an injury) joins an MBA team undercover and goes after the killer. Meanwhile, back at their loft in lower Manhattan, a very pregnant Marlene is about to take incredible risks with the help of her washed up, drunken cop friend as she charges head long into the case. Working as a team (and sometimes fighting like cats and dogs) they discover a conspiracy with mobsters, political big wigs, and movers and shakers who have killed and are willing to kill again to maintain the status quo which amounts to a gravy train.
June 8, 2016
It's obvious to me why Mr. Tanenbaum has a long string of successful novels. Since he's going to be the keynote speaker at a conference I'm attending, I wanted to read at least one of his books. Material Witness was published in 1993. Given the speed at which data, DNA and evidence processing is changing, it is a period piece in some respects. But the writing is superb; the main characters, Butch Karp and his wife Marlene, are intelligent, witty and very shrewd; and the plot complex. You do not want to read this novel with only half your brain. I suspect all Tanenbaum's books are like this. They appeal to the discerning, astute crime fiction reader. I'm so glad I picked this up and I'm looking forward to the next one, Corruption of Blood, which I've already started. Recommended for readers who enjoy cerebral mysteries.
February 5, 2017
#5 in the NYC ADA Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi series. Another exciting entry as Marlene has changed from main-squeeze to spouse of Butch and they engage in unofficial heroics.
NYC assistant DAs Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi, now married, are expecting their first child. While Marlene is on pregnancy leave, Butch gets into a hassle with his superior and resigns from the DA's office. Unofficially, then, they become embroiled in a murder case in Queens, the shooting of a pro basketball star in a car whose glove compartment contains a large package of high-grade cocaine. The tangled case brings them into contact with Mafia hitmen and loan sharks, and includes revelations of point-shaving, arson-for-hire and a political corruption scheme that involves numerous high-ranking New York pols.
NYC assistant DAs Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi, now married, are expecting their first child. While Marlene is on pregnancy leave, Butch gets into a hassle with his superior and resigns from the DA's office. Unofficially, then, they become embroiled in a murder case in Queens, the shooting of a pro basketball star in a car whose glove compartment contains a large package of high-grade cocaine. The tangled case brings them into contact with Mafia hitmen and loan sharks, and includes revelations of point-shaving, arson-for-hire and a political corruption scheme that involves numerous high-ranking New York pols.
December 4, 2008
Continuing to read this series in order. Marlene was pregnant in the last one, is even more pregnant in this one, and has the baby in the closing pages. Mostly, though, about professional basketball, real estate developers in NYC, and the combined corruption between the two. Shows what to me seems like an authentic enthusiasm for and understanding of the fine art of basketball, while at the same time reminding the reader that it isn't as important as anything in real life. Some pretty hard-to-believe plot points, but Michael Gruber (the real author) writes with such authority that I just surrender and believe him.
August 16, 2013
I liked this one better than the previous four. Did the writer hit his stride? Did I hit my stride? Butch and Marlene seemed less at odds with each other this time and while the plot had lots of different threads and players it wasn't as convoluted as some of the previous ones. Even though Butch and Marlene were out of the DA's office for different reasons they still got to interact with the usual cast of characters along with some new interesting people. A good read.
April 20, 2015
Butch gets to relive his childhood dream playing basketball in the NBA. Working with Marlene he uncovers corruption that covers everything from: fixing gambling results; corruption in the legal system; murder; and more.
Butch tries to uncover the reasons for unusual events concerning the local NBA team; while Marlene works with a down-on-his-luck detective who's saddled with a major murder investigation. All this as Marlene comes to the end of long burdensome pregnancy.
Butch tries to uncover the reasons for unusual events concerning the local NBA team; while Marlene works with a down-on-his-luck detective who's saddled with a major murder investigation. All this as Marlene comes to the end of long burdensome pregnancy.
July 4, 2012
the saga of Butch and Marlene continues with the birth of daughter Lucy, introduction of Ariadne Stupenagel and the Walking Booger. This time corrupt New Yorkers involve themselves with LA based mafiosi...a natural for Ciampi to deal with...easy read !!!
July 11, 2007
Good book
June 23, 2008
NBA basketball, hitmen, first meet det Bello?
July 14, 2011
Always love these characters!
May 29, 2021
No. 5 of Butch & Marlene
November 28, 2012
Typical for the series which means very good. Marlene continues to take a physical beating. I don't know how many more she can take in future stories.
February 16, 2015
Part of this book was very far fetched from reality. It was quick good read and good for 3 stars. I liked the end of book picture biography of the author.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews