Child of Sorrow cover art

Child of Sorrow

Tennessee Delta Series, Book 3

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Child of Sorrow

By: Melinda Clayton
Narrated by: Brett Leach
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About this listen

When 14-year-old foster child Johnathan Thomas Woods is suspected of murder, an old letter and a tacky billboard advertisement lead him to the office of attorney Brian Stone. Recognizing the sense of hopelessness lurking under John’s angry façade, Stone is soon convinced of his innocence. When John offers up his lawn-mowing money as payment, Stone realizes this is a case he can’t refuse.

In the face of overwhelming evidence assembled by the prosecution, Stone and his team find themselves in a race against time to save an angry boy who’s experienced more than his fair share of betrayal, a boy who more often than not doesn’t seem interested in saving himself.

©2020 Melinda Clayton (P)2020 Melinda Clayton Genre Fiction Psychological Thriller & Suspense Fiction Thriller Crime Law
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Simply, but elegantly, written with good, natural dialogue, this is an easy book to be drawn into and provides an intriguing murder mystery. Slight, teenage Jon is accused of the murder of his foster mother whose body was found in a dumpster, hog tied by his belt. He's an awkward, angry young man declaring his innocence to his attorney, Brian, but refusing to tell his story either in full or truthfully. So, if not Jon, who did kill the woman? The list of likely possibles is very short and Jon's poor anger management makes him a very likely candidate. But something about that very anger convinces Brian of the child's innocence. At the same time, other disturbing ripples from his office manager's past continue to disturb their joint feelings of security...

Narration by Brett Leach was nicely paired with the text. His reading was well paced, with good intonation and clear individual voicings for all of the characters. Each of the chapters, apart from those dealing directly with the trial proceedings, gives the first person present point of view from one of the main characters - Brian, Jon or the secretary-cum-friend, Lena, and through their own observations, the reader is given not just the ongoing situation as they see it, but also reveals much about the past of each person. And there is a lot of past - including another unresolved murder. It is a clever construct which really keeps the book interesting.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book, and I must give my thanks to the rights holder of Child of Sorrow, who, at my request freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. But although a good read throughout the main body, the concluding section was a disappointment and really felt unrealistically trite. Perhaps, because this is book three but the first that I have read of an ongoing series, part of the ending just didn't make sense to me and I might just go back to book two to find out what went before. So, four stars instead of five, but still a book I would recommend to those who enjoy legal mysteries.

"I am a foster kid, I am not an idiot."

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Absolutely brilliant final book still with lots of twists and turns some lovely surprises brilliant narration will check out more books by author

Brilliant court room drama with lots of twists

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