Degree of Guilt

I don't read a whole lot of the legal thriller genre, but I have read several books by Richard North Patterson. His last few books have become more overtly political, tackling such issues as abortion, the death penalty, and Israel. While I appreciate the complexity of how these issues are presented in those books, they can come across as an ethics course with some plot hanging on to it. I prefer his earlier novels like this one. Mary Carelli is a journalist who is lured into the hotel room of famed writer Mark Ransom by the promise of tapes of a famous politician and starlet. When she shows up on the doorstep of ex-lover Christopher Paget, who is raising their son, she has been accused of murdering Ransom in what she claims was self-defense after he raped her. The mystery of what happened in that hotel room and the ghosts from Mary and Chris's past are all revealed with a great deal of suspense, plot twists, and character study.