CAPITOL MURDER by William Bernhardt
CAPITOL MURDER is the latest novel by William Bernhardt. Once again he focuses on the life and times of attorney Ben Kincaid. Ben has been the subject of many of Bernhardt's previous novels, and has proven to be a character with whom audiences can identify and enjoy. In this latest book he gets involved in a case concerning a Washington, DC scandal, and must use all his skills to come out on top.
The book is interesting because it takes a Clinton like scandal and follows it through trial to completion. Of course the fact the woman involved with the politician is killed gives it a different slant. Todd Glancy, the senior senator from Oklahoma, is the politician who was fooling around with a member of his staff. He hires Ben to help him with the political fallout of his affair, but while they are planning strategy on this matter, the staff member's body is found.
Now Todd is faced with murder charges and Ben must rapidly change his game plan to take in this more serious matter. He and his partner, Christina, plunge into action hoping to get Glancy exonerated or at least kept from execution. It is an uphill battle all the way and Kincaid must summon every legal skill in his arsenal of weapons.
Weakening the story is a side plot concerning vampires, or at least people who think they are vampires. Veronica Cooper is the name of the dead woman with whom Clancy was involved. Kincaid's investigator Loving learns she and three of her friends might have been involved with an underground society of "vampires."
So while the trial is taking place, Loving is moving through the depths of Washington searching for the three other women who might have had some insight into Veronica's life. What he finds out is shocking but silly, and makes the novel dissolve into a "lost" episode of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer."
William Bernhardt is a serious writer and no matter how much he researched the "vampire" issue, it still weakens the seriousness of this new book and makes it all feel contrived. This is a shame because the trial of Todd Clancy, his relationship with the members of his staff, and his relationship with his wife all make for fascinating reading. But throw in that vampire junk and the novel becomes a comic book.
Unfortunately it is impossible to separate the serious trial elements from the vampire lore, and so both combined create a story that is enjoyable and laughable at the same time. I am sure that is not the reaction Bernhardt wanted or anticipated. Still maybe he will learn from this mistake and get back to the serious business of story telling with his next novel.
CAPITOL MURDER is published by Ballantine Books. It contains 565 pages and sells for $25.95.