Author: Michael Baron

Publisher: Doubleday

ISBN: 0385513267

The following review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN:  Editor of Bookpleasures &CLICK TO VIEW  Norm Goldman's Reviews       

 The Mourning Sexton authored by Michael Baron (pseudonym for an attorney in St. Louis, Missouri), heralds the arrival of a bold new voice to the world of legal fiction.

 Set in St.Louis Missouri, Baron narrates the tale of a rehabilitated lawyer, who had been incarcerated for embezzlement. After his release from prison, our principle protagonist, David Hirsch returns to the fold of his Jewish religion. He is appointed to the prestigious post as his synagogue’s sexton, or as it is termed in Hebrew, the ``gabbai``

While attending the daily synagogue minyan, Hirsch is approached by one of the elderly congregants, Abe Shifrin, who persuades him to represent him in a product liability suit involving a tire manufacturer pertaining to his deceased daughter Judith. Notwithstanding the fact that he is now a bankruptcy attorney, Hirsch agrees to represent Shifrin, who incidentally has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Apparently, three years previous, Judith, who was a law clerk at the time, was killed in an accident, while driving with her employee, Judge Brendan McCormick. However, there is a twist here-Shifrin is not interested in monetary compensation, but rather in justice, as he suspects foul play.

As our narrative unfolds, readers are informed that McCormick was the presiding judge in a huge damage suit involving this same company, Peterson Tire Corporation. The case was ultimately settled to the tune of several million dollars paid to a multitude of plaintiffs.

Hirsch enlists the aid of his colleagues Seymour Rosenbloom, as well as Adelaide (Dulcie) Lorenz. The latter is a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and manages the Family Justice Legal Clinic, that is part of the law school’s clinical program, and where Judith Shifrin had volunteered her services.

All three legal minds conclude that there seems to be some kind of suspicious connection pertaining to the Peterson Tire Corporation, Judge McCormick and Judith Shifrin. This is later confirmed, when after a tireless quest to find out more about Judith Shifrin, it is revealed that there had been foul play connected to her demise.

 The novel is propelled by Baron’s carefully developed plot and his clean accessible prose style. Especially noteworthy and even though this is Baron’s debut novel, the narrative is devoid of apprehensiveness or insecurity-a frequent weakness of many a first-time novelist.

Characters are effectively revealed through exciting action scenes that continually maintain the fast pace of the story with surprising twists and turns ending with sweet retribution.

By the end of the novel, readers may be wondering if they are in the presence of another John Grisham.

As a passing note, for those who are unfamiliar with Yiddish and Hebrew terms, the author provides a short glossary at the back of the book.