The Holdout

The Holdout by Graham Moore, 322 pages

Maya is a successful defense attorney in Los Angeles. But 10 years ago, she was an idealistic writer and a juror on the trial of the decade: Bobby Nock, a young black man, was accused of murdering Jessica Silver, the 15-year-old blonde-haired, blue-eyed daughter of a billionaire real estate magnate. Maya wasn't convinced of his guilt, and over four excruciating weeks, convinced her fellow jurors to return a verdict of not guilty, to much outcry from the public. When the jurors gather for a tenth anniversary documentary, Maya's most vocal critic among her peers turns up dead, in Maya's hotel room, and she's suddenly trying to solve two murders in a race against the clock.

This is a tightly woven thriller that also manages to discuss racial, social, and judicial disparities intelligently without making it seem like a lecture. It's a gripping read.

The body in question

The body in question / Jill Ciment, read by Hillary Huber, 173 pgs.

A jury is picked for a murder trial.  It is fairly grisly and they are sequestered.  Jurors C2 and F17 start an affair but try to keep it secret.  Does this make them less effective as jurors?  C2 is a photographer and has doubts about the accused.  F17 is a doctor who seems convinced.  The rest of the group is a rag-tag bunch not detailed enough in the story.  The relationship between C2 and F17 then C2 and her husband is a bigger story than the trail itself.  A satisfying thriller.  Hillary Huber is the perfect narrator here.  At times detached and emotionless but able to play each part to perfection.