There are few concepts that are more traditional in the literary world than the good old fashioned “who dun it?”. Indeed murder mysteries themselves cross genres from historical “it was the soldier in the castle with the pike” through to the sci-fi “it was the blue alien with the laser in the bio-contamination pod”. Similarly there is a vast array of contemporary literature based around the legal wrangles of court cases, doubtless contributed to by public interest being aroused by television and film.

In The Tenth Case Teller manages to combine these two concepts, albeit ones that naturally cross-pollinate, in a skillful and well informed manner. It would be of no surprise to a reader of this offering that his pre-writing experience involved both undercover work for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and over three decades as a defense attorney.

Drawing on this varied background Teller manages to immediately achieve the most important aspect of this kind of novel – creating a believable main protagonist. An obsessive perfectionist with a penchant for insomnia when on a case, and heavy drinking when not, the reader is soon drawn into the life of Jaywalker and sympathising with him even before the narrative gains pace. Teller makes a crucial decision in these opening stages to ensure the reader identifies with Jaywalker, by creating huge flaws in his character that only succeed in making him more human. This is not the kind of “down-the-line” investigator that is seen all too often across the genre; we soon become enraptured by the life of a lawyer who is waiting to be suspended for three years from practice, who has few friends and no real aspirations other than to win the next case.

This is where Teller weaves an imperfect morality, presumably one known all too well from his own experiences. Jaywalker places no importance on whether his clients are guilty or innocent – for him the emphasis is on winning an acquittal through whatever legal means necessary. Which draws us further into his life, and into the case that is destined to be his last before suspension.

It is the case that is the most fantastically woven aspect of the novel, due to the foundations of morality already laid in the opening chapters. The girl Jaywalker comes to defend is accused of murdering her billionaire husband, and the evidence is stacked heavily against her. Much of the book is centred around Jaywalker trying to reconcile to himself not whether he can win the case, but whether he has failed as a lawyer when the girl continues to adamantly protest her innocence. Here we see the perfectionist in him, determined to create the trust with his client which seems to be lacking when she will not at least play for a more lenient sentence by pleading guilty. This leaves Jaywalker having to fight overwhelming evidence when in the courtroom and his personal demons when outside it.

In itself the plot is excellently constructed, using these two central characters and an immensely detailed knowledge of the true process of a trial to leave the reader constantly enthralled. Teller never fails to have another twist waiting to ensnare us, right up until the very last page of the novel. Other touches complement the story, and the best example is the use of dialogue when in court. Teller prints the conversations as if they are excerpts directly from the court log, with the name of the speaker in block capitals and the statements themselves without punctuation marks. Though not the most elaborate narrative device ever created, it serves to add impact to the passages of the book that are intended to be the crux of the story. For ultimately it is the result of the case that the reader is waiting for as the plot comes to its conclusion.

Thus Teller’s The Tenth Case manages to maintain a rapid momentum to follow the peaks and troughs of the case, as well as the personal battle Jaywalker is plagued with over this, his final client. Where Teller falls down is that he can occasionally overstate certain facts – reiterating the name or profession of a character as if in case the reader has forgotten. Assuming the novel was read over the course of several months this would doubtless be useful, but given the narrative is such that each chapter leads tantalisingly onto the next it soon starts become a mild irritation, almost detracting from what is otherwise a very strong contribution to its genre.

However any mild irritations are cast easily aside when the final pieces of the puzzle are produced, in the closing pages of the book, creating a climax unmatched by anything previously read of this kind. Given it is on this peak that Teller will leave you, it ensures little doubt of the final impression of the novel. If you are a lover of the genre it should without a doubt be gracing your bookshelf. If you are not, take a few days away from your “normal” choice of fiction and read it. You will not be disappointed.

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