Anatomy of a Murder

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The telephone began to drone again and I answered it largely because it was the only way I knew to make the damned thing stop.

The Michigan supreme court reports and all my other law books stood on narrow shelves against an entire wall, completely hidden by drawn monk-cloth drapes--largely, I suspect, because it made me nervous to contemplate so many religiously unread books. The story had many layers and reminded me of a Grisham type book, but the character development was much superior, like a Scott Turrow. The prosecution – trying to set the victim in as positive a light as possible – has no problem dismissing the rape as either irrelevant or imaginary, whichever's more convenient, and to tarnish her reputation in any way possible; the defense is concerned that Laura's beauty might tell against them, but otherwise is determined to stick her on the stand come what may.

The combined waiting room and place where Maida did her typing--the old dining room--looked more like the reception room of, not a club, but a comfortably old and rather down-at-the-heel fraternal lodge.

A gripping tale of deceit, murder, and a sensational trial, Anatomy of a Murder is unmatched in the authenticity of its settings, events, and characters. Note that the publisher even issued a later paperback edition with a movie-poster reproduction as its cover.

First edition, early printing of this classic work, basis for the film produced and directed by Otto Preminger, starring James Stewart and Lee Remick. PART ONE Before the Trial chapter 1 The mine whistles were tooting midnight as I drove down Main Street hill. Voelker, using the pen name Robert Traver, wrote this novel shortly after being defeated in his bid for re-election for district attorney of Marquette County, MI and deciding to focus on his private law practice.

Voelker, was an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court when his novel "Anatomy of a Murder", later made into the classic movie with Jimmy Stewart, rocketed him to national fame. The best-selling novel was turned into an Academy Award-nominated film of the same name—directed by Otto Preminger and starring James Stewart—released on July 1, 1959. I shouldered the packsack and grabbed up the other stuff and started across the echoing empty street.What follows is one of the most brilliant courtroom dramas of all time, as Polly puts together his defence and minutely examines the seething emotions under the placid surface of his town. If you can get over the narrator sounding like Hiram Holiday, then maybe you can figure out that the the first two chapters are ramblings of the author and not part of the story. Other books by Voelker were based on other legal cases in the Upper Peninsula or his love of fly fishing for brook trout. It is not only the most popular courtroom drama in American fiction, but one of the most popular novels of our time. One thing I like is when a book hooks me quickly and this book did just that, after a few minutes I found myself looking for opportunities to listen.