To Account for Murder

by William C. Whitbeck

Loss haunts Charlie Cahill. He has lost his belief in the great game of the law, a game that is fixed from the beginning. He lost his father, who drowned during Prohibition smuggling whiskey across the Detroit River. He lost his left arm below the elbow to German machine-gun fire on D-Day. And he may lose the one thing that still matters to him, the woman who rescued him from his own despair.

That woman is Sarah Maynard. She has chestnut hair with a single white streak, a wicked laugh, a thirst for love, and a corrupt state senator for a husband. With a probe into corruption at the state capital about to begin, the police find the senator dead in the middle of a cornfield.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Mystery

272 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2010

Reviews

[Argum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and enlightening. As a man lay dying, he feels the need to tell his child the story of his life. There is some sort of difficult relationship between the two, but the father persists in unraveling the past. The father is Charlie, a veteran of WWII where he lost an arm. On returning to Lansing, he meets a nurse, a married one. They fall in love. Her husband is a state senator caught up in a graft investigation (This is real history). Charlie takes his dead body out to the corn field and shoots him in the face. Then he goes and applies for his old job at the prosecutor's office for an alibi. Next thing he knows he is part of the special prosecutors team and the are investigating the murder as part of a conspiracy to prevent the dead man from testifying. This works for him as it obscures his role in the murder. The ending is a great surprise.

Touching story and interesting fictionalized look at real corruption in Michigan in the 1940s. THis includes the murder of a real state senator that is unsolved, but suspected to be done by the Purple Gang. Highly recommend.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heavy on the legal, easy on the thrill. I became uninterested very quickly in this book and resorted to reading the first line of every paragraph just to get through it. I'm only giving it 2 stars because I didn't entirely hate it, I just didn't enjoy it. Overall, it was too heavy on legal jargon/procedures and too run down with unnecessary descriptions.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

August selection for Books and Brew Book Club

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

William C. Whitbeck’s novel, To Account for Murder, recounts far more than just a simple murder. Frankie’s father, the legendary Charles Cahill, is dying and insists on telling one last tale before the end, a Rubik’s cube of a tale where every angle is a different color and every detail needs to shift before it finds its place. The elder Cahill left his arm on the battlefield in World War II. Afterwards he tried to pick up his life and left a dead senator in a field in Michigan.

Old friends and enemies and a brother gather round. Old vultures seek fame and fortune from the investigation while Cahill seeks survival and anonymity. The story unfolds like a 1940’s nourish gangland thriller, with political powerbrokers aiming for some combination of the common good and their own personal greed. But that’s just when the Rubik’s cube turns one way.

In another direction, there’s the strained relationship between Frankie and Cahill, Frankie ever more reluctant to hear the tale; Cahill ever more determined to live to tell. But turn again, and Cahill’s love for the senator’s wife brings curious rays of hope, despair, affection, protection and betrayal, each view revealing another twist and another question on the trail.

Author William C. Whitbeck is Chief Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals. He paints the corrupt legal and political scene of 1940’s Michigan with a deft hand. But it’s the scenes set outside of court, the anguish of love and guilt, of violence, affection, and despair, that raise the story beyond mere courtroom drama. Some relationships fall apart with loss; others separate for a while and then rejoin. But there’s always the danger a relationships will never find its missing truth, like an arm buried long ago in France. Can such associations survive and thrive as if the limb were never missing, never there?

Whitbeck’s novel accounts for the murder of a senator, for murdered relationships and dreams, and for survival in a story, that asks what would you do to save the one you loved. Then the author masterfully saves the story’s best till last.

With thanks to the Permanent Press for letting me read a pre-release copy.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this complimentary copy of To Account for Murder from Goodreads. Though this type of story is not one that I would have normally purchased, I would actually rate this story 3-1/2 out of 5 stars if that option were available. This is one of those stories that you need to read in long doses, so that you don't lose track of who's who, and who's done what. Knowing that the author based this book on real life events lent something "extra" to the story. From Whitbeck's descriptions, I was able to visualize all that was happening and was very curious to find out what the outcome of the trial would be. Of course, I was rooting for the "good" guys to win (the lesser of two evils), but was satisfied that the two accomplices were found guilty. With everyone having a hand in some type of corruption, their weren't any real good guys. Overall, this was a good story. But, maybe I would have thrown a few characters in that were not corruptible. Anyone who enjoys tales of corruption and courtrooms will enjoy this story.

[Lisa M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book throough LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program. William Whitbeck’s novel To Account for Murder, is a wonderful, page-turning read. The novel, based on the true 1945 gang murder of Senator Warren G. Hooper, reads as a very appealing piece of fiction. Corruption, sex, murder, and politics all combine to make a mesmerizing piece of literature. I literally could not put this book down, and had to stay up half the night in order to finish, all the way to the terrific twist, and very satisfying ending. Very well done!

[Rebecca Cohen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was an easy read, but I wasn't all the impressed with it. there were lots of characters and I had trouble remembering who everyone was. In fact, a new central character would appear out of nowhere, even towards the end of the book. It made it difficult to keep reading. Also, I was irritated at the end with the layers of deception in the book. Just tell us from the beginning that his kid is a girl.

[Jed L · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't read. Badly written, uninspiring plot, boring characters--perhaps shallow one dimensional characters is a better description. This was a goodreads giveaway that didn't do anything for me.

I received this book via a Goodread's giveaway.

[Lori]

galley from BBC

[Mary]

I won To Account for Murder from First Reads and am eager to read it now that it has arrived. This book looks good.

[Gayle Jackobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just received this book and read it all in one night! It was a page turner. I am in Michigan and could relate to the cities and sites mentioned. I highly recommend this book!

[Brett E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fine plot, richly developed protagonist; the last chapters flew by til its gripping climax. A very good work!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

extra star for local history

[Jessica Applin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I <3 this book, he is a great writer, and his opinions are page turners as well!