Assumption of Guilt

When charges of sexual abuse at a local nursery school spread through the small upstate New York town of Hudson Ferry, the outraged citizens are nearly unanimous in their belief that the accused party is guilty. Young teacher Laurie Coles insists that she is innocent; her lawyer, Harry Hull, has little experience in criminal law. In his first novel, nonfiction writer Mehling breaks new ground in the legal-thriller subgenre by eschewing any statement about the defendant's guilt or innocence. Instead he focuses on the process of the trial and the conflict between the public will and the law. The plot follows the course of events, revealing not only the strategies employed by the defense and prosecution, but illuminating the characters'--including the jury members'--personal involvements as well. Challenging readers to make up their own minds about Coles's guilt or innocence, Mehling presents a vivid and realistic portrait of the law being applied in a case where truth is neither simple nor readily ascertainable. A dramatic conclusion wraps up the sometimes halting narrative, which is nonetheless an intelligent inquiry into the role of the justice system in the age of information. (Feb.)