Traver

Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver (1958)

An attorney is hired to defend a man accused of murdering his wife’s alleged rapist. What follows is a tour through 1950s Michigan law and procedure. I think the title of this book is misleading. To me, Anatomy of a Murder sounds like a murder mystery–a whodunit. It is not, at all. We know right away who did it and why. In my opinion, the book should be titled Anatomy of a Trial because it is the story of the trial – its build-up and unfolding – narrated by the defense attorney. This story is a courtroom procedural. In some ways, it reminded me of an episode of Law & Order.

Anatomy of a Murder is divided into two parts. The first is the investigation phase. The reader listens in on the attorney-client interviews, the lawyer’s research and investigation, and the construction and development of the defense. The second part is the trial itself. The reader is taken through every aspect of the process and somehow none of it is boring. The narrator is considerate with his storytelling. He methodically relates what is happening, but because the law can be dry, tedious, and repetitive (such as with jury selection, which the reader is present for), he gives us an example of how it’s done and then summarizes the rest. We are also mercifully spared much legal-ese, except where unavoidable.

During this second part of the book, I felt like I became the thirteenth member of the jury. It seemed that the lawyers spoke directly to me when making their cases. The trial is a back-and-forth battle between lawyers of equal ability. Both the Prosecution and Defense had strong arguments. They spoke logically, expertly, intelligently, and convincingly. There was only one part where I was not able to follow the logic of the testimony and questioning. For me, I thought the Prosecution’s case was more interesting than that of the Defense’s. The reader is with the defense attorney from the very beginning of the story. We know what he’s going to do and how he’s going to do it. Therefore, the Prosecution’s case is a total unknown. He does a good job laying out what he thinks happened and expertly counters the Defense. His argument was compelling and plausible. By the time the Prosecution rested his case, I was glad I wasn’t on that jury.

Anatomy of a Murder has no business being as good as it is. This novel should be boring, but the author leads the reader through the jargon, confusing series of events, and complex legal system to tell an interesting story. Robert Traver was a pen name, but the author was almost certainly a lawyer himself – or was very familiar with how the system worked. Because of this, everything feels realistic. The details that only a lawyer could really understand are related by a skilled novelist to create a believable, well-crafted story.