What Does A Legal Thriller Need? Love Betrayal Murder

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: You know I adore legal thrillers. I grew up watching Perry Mason with my step-dad…he was tough and brilliant corporate attorney, and I learned so much from him!  But my sister and I were not allowed to ay a word during Perry—we had to wait until the commercials to ask “What does sustained mean? What does immaterial mean?

And we always always tried to guess who the bad guy was. And we learned how, after a while.

One of my most fun things as a kid to do was to go to my father's law office and play in the supply room. We'd stamp the corporate seal on everything, and pretend we were lawyers. I came as close to going to law school as anyone could come up until my father asked whether I wanted to actually practice law. I told him…probably not. That I wanted to work on Capitol Hill and change the world. 

And he told me something so interesting... he said law school teaches you how to find things out. And, he said, you already know how to do that.  (He also told me I should not take the spot of someone who actually wanted to practice. But maybe that's another blog.)

Anyway--stories about the law are my absolute favorites. (Anatomy of a Murder. Defending Jacob. To Kill A Mockingbird. WItness for the Prosecution.The Verdict. And on and on!) And that is why I am so delighted today to introduce you to Adam Mitzner. He not only went to law school, but he is also a big time successful lawyer (see bio below!), and knows his stuff when it comes to legal thrillers. 

Plus... lucky you... he's giving away a copy of his newest book, LOVE BETRAYAL MURDER, to one lucky commenter. We chatted via email.

HANK: Let’s start with something fun: what’s your very favorite legal thriller? Book? Movie? 

ADAM: Legal thriller: Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow. My first legal thriller and still the best (imho).

Book: See above and The Great Gatsby.

Movie: The Godfather is the one I most often quote, but I’ve seen The Dark Knight a million times and have a lifetime love of all things Batman

Hank: The Dark Knight is a legal thriller? I will admit, I’ve never seen it. But it’s now on the list.  And The Godfather—what a great choice. Gatsby, too.  What made you want to be a lawyer?

Two things: (1) failing organic chemistry freshman year of college, which once and for all ended my parents’ dream that I become a doctor; and (2) the somewhat naive thought that I would be defending the innocent.

 

Hank: Ha. Part of being a lawyer, especially a litigator, is knowing how to tell a good story. Has that got to do in your writing? 

I consider being a litigator more problem solving than story-telling -- except if that problem cannot be solved without resort to a jury, then it is 100% story-telling.

Legal writing and fiction each have their own rhythm, but framing a theme is a through line in both my occupations.

Hank: Your path to publication was fascinating! Tell us a bit about that. 

There is nothing more satisfying than a second career -- especially a creative one -- when you’re in your forties. Sometimes I look back and think -- What on earth made me believe I could publish a novel when I had absolutely no experience in creative writing, no contacts in the industry and I was already working 50 hour weeks?

I don’t have an answer to that, but I know that what propelled me to try was the deep-seated need for a creative outlet. My children were young back then, and the first writing I did was stories for them. My favorite was about a princess trapped inside the book and in need of the reader’s help to get out

My journey to publication is also a story about how much help you need along the way. Not only encouragement from friends and family. After I was halfway through with my first manuscript, I was introduced to someone “in the business” who told me that he specialized in cookbooks, so he could be of no assistance. And then he provided me enormous assistance by introducing me to an editor (the same one I still use). In turn, that editor introduced me to my agent.

And to disabuse anyone thinking it was an easy road for me -- my agent loved my manuscript, but no one bought it. Eighteen months of hard work later, I gave my agent a new manuscript, and he hated it to the point he refused to send it out. Fast-forward another two years, and on my third attempt, I had a contract with Simon & Schuster.

 

Hank: We talk about perseverance here all the time! Your newest  book, LOVE BETRAYAL MURDER, comes out in about a month! What can you tell us about it? 

On the surface it’s about an office romance that goes bad, but it’s really about how differently people can perceive the same events. 

On the first page, right after one of the characters takes the oath given to all trial witnesses -- to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth -- she says that “I doubted very much that I’d be true to my oath, however. Not because I intended to lie. Rather, I no longer believe there was such a thing as truth between lovers. More than that, both my professional experience and the past year have taught me that there is even less honesty between litigants. When lovers become litigants, fact and fiction dissolve into nothing more than points of view.”

To me, that’s the core of the story -- and of life. Is there a single truth? Or is it always a matter of perspective?

Hank: People always ask--do your novels come from real life? And that is such a difficult answer. But was there one puzzle piece that began this book for you?

My wife and I met when we were both working at the same law firm, so that gave me some insight into the risks and rewards of an office romance. Given that there’s a murder in the book, I feel the need to emphasize that my wife is very much alive.

Hank: You have a marvelous piece on Career Authors this week about getting things right in legal thrillers. And one thing that was so interesting is… The courtroom tedium. The exhaustion of a complicated case. How do you decide what to leave out? And what’s important?

 

A close friend just finished a murder trial in which he lost, and yet I still felt the need to congratulate him because just getting through it is an accomplishment. If you’re writing from the lawyer’s perspective, and you want the book to ring true, that exhaustion is a key part of the experience. And if you’re writing from the defendant’s perspective, it is hard to faithfully describe the enormity of the stress. 

The most stressful moments of my life were standing beside a defendant awaiting the jury to announce its verdict -- and I was the lawyer! I can’t imagine what it was like for them, knowing that depending on whether they heard the word “not” they were either going to jail or home to their families.

Hank : What do you think is the theme of your new book? Did you know that when you started?

The epigraph of Love Betrayal Murder is “The Truth Will Set You Free” and the theme of book is -- Does it, really? 

I knew from the start that I wanted to write about how one’s perspective shapes conduct, and how everyone thinks that they’re doing the right thing, even though other people might be shocked at what someone else finds justifiable. 

My favorite part of the book -- and what I try to achieve in all my books -- is that everyone’s conduct fits within their own moral code. Sometimes that code is survival at all costs, and sometimes it’s adhering to your sense of right and wrong no matter the consequences, and at others its doing what you think someone else wants you to do. Even though each of those codes might lead to different actions, it is important that the characters feel like they are doing the right thing based on their specific sense of morality.

 

Hank: Now that you write fiction, do you look at your real life in a different way?

One thousand percent. My writing colors everything I do, for good and bad. 

On the plus side, I think about issues through the eyes of those around me much more, as if I’m looking for their character motivations the way I do my own characters. It makes me more understanding and compassionate (or at least I like think so). It also makes me a much better lawyer (again, I hope).

More negatively, perhaps, sometimes I don’t follow what people are actually saying to me because I’m focused on their speaking style to steal it for a character someday. For example, in books you often have speakers invoke the name of the person to whom they are addressing -- I’ve told you this before, Jim.  But in real life, at least in my real life, the only time people say my name when talking to me is when they’re mad at me. Adam, for crying out loud . . .

HANK:  SO funny—yes, it’s a way to let readers know who is talking—one that we don’t need in real life! So pleased you joined us today, Adam! And so eager to read your new book.  Reds and readers, let's talk legal thrillers. What's your favorite? 

And remember, a copy of  LOVE BETRAYAL MURDER to one lucky commenter! 

Adam Mitzner  is an author of nine thrillers, including the bestselling Dead Certain

and The Perfect Marriage, while also practicing law full time as the head of the litigation department of a prestigious Manhattan law firm. His books have been critically acclaimed for their realistic portrayal of the law as well as for their twists and turns. His work has been named best suspense book of the year (A Conflict of Interest) and a finalist for the ABA’s Silver Gavel Award (A Case of Redemption). Publishers Weekly says of Adam: “This gifted writer should have a long and successful career ahead of him.” Adam lives in New York with his wife, four children and a very, very nice dog.

LOVE BETRAYAL MURDER

Blackstone Publishing May 16, 2023

From Adam Mitzner, the critically acclaimed best-selling author of Dead Certain and The Perfect Marriage, comes your thriller of the summer… Love Betrayal Murder is a smart, twisty, post #MeToo era tale with a jaw-dropping conclusion!

About the Story 

Matthew Brooks and Vanessa Lyons are attorneys at a powerful New York City law firm and they’re in love. But their relationship is fraught with peril. For starters, Vanessa is married and her husband is suspicious of her long nights at work.

And then there’s the fact that Vanessa is up for partner, and to boost her chances, she’s assigned to work on the firm’s biggest trial, which places her directly under Matt’s supervision. When Vanessa is denied her partnership, despite assurances to the contrary from the firm’s senior partner, she can only assume that her affair with Matt was the reason.

Then, on a crowded Manhattan street corner, a knife flashes in the midday sun, leaving behind a scene of horror. But with so many having been betrayed, will the murderer be brought to justice?